The Zodiac People
by agent000
Summary: Ed is sent on a misson to defeat the creatures called the zodiac people, who have the powers of the zodiac and can change into the elements their signs represent. But there is a very important detail about the mission that he doesn't know about.
1. Chapter 1

_**Here's a story that's been bugging me for a few days, so I decided to just write up a chapter, and see how it went over with all of you. Let me know if it's any good, and if you want to see more of this story. (Yes, this chapter is short, I realize, and not very exciting, but I wanted to test the waters first, before writing a long chapter.)**_

_**This idea came to me sometime after reading the first volume of the Fruits Basket manga, even though the stories are nothing alike. Heh, I don't even use the same zodiac system. (I'm not very familiar with the Chinese zodiac system. I know the western one pretty well though.)**_

_**Anyway, I hope that the story interests you. Leave me some feedback, and tell me what you think if you want some updates.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. I sure wish I did, but I don't.**_

Edward stepped into Colonel Roy Mustang's office. "You sent for me, Colonel?"

Leaning back into his chair, Roy said, "Is someone there? I can't see you over the stack of papers."

Edward fumed, but decided not to lash out just then. He'd think of a good way to get back at Roy someday, when he could find a way that wouldn't have any consequences.

"I'm just keeping you on your toes, FullMetal." Roy sat up in his chair and looked the boy in the eye. "I have a very important, yet very unusual, missioin for you."

Edward folded his arms across his chest. "I like unusual missions."

"Good," said Mustang, "This one's most unusual. Are you familiar with the zodiac?"

"The zodiac?" said Edward, a little taken aback, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question, FullMetal."

"Well, no, I can't say that I'm very familiar with either zodiac system. Which one are you referring to?"

"I'm referring to the monthly zodiac system. Here," Roy slid Edward a piece of paper. "This is a listing of all twelve signs of the zodiac, their starting and ending times, their elements, their qualities, and their yin or yang energies."

Edward picked up the piece of paper and studied it. After a moment, he looked up at the Colonel and said, "So, why do I need to know this again?"

Roy put his hand on his chin, and studied Edward for a moment, then proceeded to explain.

"There is a creature that we have only recently discovered that is more dangerous to us than the homunculi. Some call them the elementals; some call them the zodiac people. Whatever you call them, they are all extremely powerful alchemists."

"So why are they so dangerous?" asked Edward.

"Each sign has a corresponding element. If one person from each element were to get together, they would be quite a force to be reckoned with. If all twelve of them were to ever get together, they'd be nearly unstoppable."

"But how do we know that these beings are actually a threat? Maybe they're peace-loving creature," said Edward.

"I know, FullMetal, I don't like jumping into this without all the information either, but these orders came directly from the Furher himself, and there's nothing I can do."

"I understand, Colonel. Is there anything else I should know?"

"The only other things I know about these creatures are these two things: They can either be in human form or their native element, and they are weakest during the time of their particular sign."

"Do you have any ideas of how I could find them?" said Edward.

"No, but they each carry the characteristics of their particular sign. You might be able to predict their moves based on that."

"Thank you, Colonel. Will that be all?"

"That's all for now, FullMetal. You are dismissed." After Edward had walked out the door, Roy said to himself, "Roy Mustang would never send the great FullMetal Alchemist on such a suicide mission." He then transformed into Envy. "But I sure would."

* * *

Far away, a woman was meditating, and revealing to another woman what she saw. "Scorpio and Cancer are on the move. They will find us soon, and then our circle will be complete."

"Thank you, Pisces," said Aries, "You are dismissed." Pisces got up and left.

As she was walking, she started musing to herself. "I hate working for Aries, but she is powerful enough to control all the other signs. The only way she can be overthrown is if all three water signs unite against her, since even the strongest fire can't compete with that much water."

She kicked at a pebble, then picked it up and threw it into the lake. How she'd wished that she could just jump into the lake and die, but a water sign couldn't drown. She stared out over the lake, admiring her native element. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do. She had to find Scorpio and Cancer before Aries did, and get them to work with her to defeat Aries.

* * *

Roy Mustang went running like mad through the Central Headquarters building. He had managed to get himself untied, since Envy had tied him up, and now he was desperately trying to find Edward.

"Has anyone seen FullMetal? Please, I have to find him immediately!" No one had seen him. Roy tried asking everyone he ran into for information, but no one knew anything.

Roy tightened his hand into a fist. "Hohenheim," he said, "If you ever show up, I will personally kill you for never telling your sons about the zodiac people. Ed is going to get him and his brother killed."

Riza Hawkeye walked up and addressed Roy. "Colonel, sir, may I inquire as to what is going on?"

Roy turned and looked at her. He had to tell someone what he was up to before he took off chasing Ed. She was trustworthy, so it might as well be her.

"The FullMetal Alchemist was tricked into going on a mission to do away with the zodiac people."

"The zodiac people, sir?" asked Hawkeye.

"The zodiac people are twelve powerful beings that each have the powers of their respective signs," explained Roy, "If he goes out and tries to kill them, he'll get himself killed, especially when he discovers that he won't be able to bring himself to kill all of them."

"Does he know some of them?"

"Yes," said Roy, "One of them is even a fellow State Alchemist. I personally know three of these zodiac people, but I think that FullMetal knows more than that, but doesn't realize it."

"How do you plan to stop him?" asked Hawkeye.

"I don't know," said Roy, "But I'll find a way." With that, he left without another word.

_**Thanks for reading. Now, leave me a review, and I'll be happy to update. Hope to see you soon.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Wow! I got a lot of response for this story. I guess that I'd better keep it up! Here's the next installment, hope that you enjoy it.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. No witty remarks today, I don't want to take the time to come up with them.**_

Edward took out the piece of paper and studied it again. This was indeed a strange mission, but he wanted to be ready with the facts.

"The first day of Scorpio starts tomorrow," said Edward, "If we could just find the Scorpio person, he'd be an easy target."

"How do you propose we find these people, Brother?"

"I don't know, Al. I'm thinking that they're actually going to find us, so we need to be prepared."

"But do you think that Scorpio will try to track us down?"

"Not if he's smart, he won't," said Ed, "Only an idiot would come looking for a battle during their time of weakness."

"Only an idiot, indeed," said a figure from the shadows, "And I think I just found my idiot."

"Who are you? Show yourself!" shouted Ed. The figure came out from the shadows.

"You're looking for the signs of the zodiac, right? Well, come on," he said as he spread his arms wide, "I'm Leo."

"You're pretty egotistical, aren't you?" said Edward, "That will be your downfall." Ed clapped his hands together, and then pulled a blade out of his auto-mail arm.

"Oh, I'm so scared of your puny little weapon. I'm begging for mercy," Leo sarcastically said.

That made Ed mad, so he lunged at Leo, only to have Leo move out of the way and promptly turn into a ball of fire. He surrounded Edward in the flames.

Edward didn't know what to do, but he didn't want to die. He clapped his hands together and then placed them on the ground. There might be some water in the ground, somewhere.

The fire continued to pressure Edward, and he wasn't having any luck locating a water source. Was all hope lost? No, he would try again. Something had to give.

He clapped his hands together again, and then thrust his hands at Leo. Perhaps a shot of energy would do the trick. Suddenly, the flames died down, and Leo returned to his human form, bewildered.

"How did you find a water source in the middle of a fire?" asked Leo. So that was what Edward had felt, steam. How did it get there? Maybe one of his previous attempts to draw water from the ground had paid off?

Suddenly, a woman came running out of the shadows. She had a veil over her head. "Leo, you idiot! I told you not to attack the FullMetal boy!" This must be Aries, thought Edward.

"But I thought I could defeat him," said Leo.

"Defeat him?" yelled Aries, "Haven't you been listening to a thing I've been saying for the past few weeks? Come back to the circle, and I'll repeat it to you again."

The two people then converted into their fiery forms, and shot up into the sky.

"Well, that was weird," said Edward, "And painful." He placed a hand on his burn marks.

"Here, Brother, let me see." Edward let Al examine the burn marks. Al freaked out. "Brother, we've got to get you to a doctor!"

"I'll be alright, Al. These burns will heal in a few days." Al knew that Ed wouldn't let him argue, so he decided not to waste energy trying to convince him. He would, however, keep an eye on him.

* * *

Roy was driving on a road out in the country, thinking to himself. If only he either knew where Ed and Al were, or at least where these zodiac people's circle was, he might be able to do something.

He slammed his fist on the steering wheel. "Darn it, FullMetal, you don't know anything. You don't know ANYTHING!" Roy wasn't referring to Ed's intelligence, since he had to have been bright to pass the State Alchemist's exam. He was referring to this case in particular.

"Your father never told you…Oh, I'm gonna kill Hohenheim!" He stepped on the gas and the car lurched forward. He was going nowhere, since he didn't know where to look, but he figured that he might as well get nowhere as fast as he could.

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright now, Brother?" asked Al.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about it. Let's get moving." Edward started walking, and then he turned around and told Al to hurry up.

If brother can still act like that, he'll probably be okay, thought Al, but I wish he wouldn't try so hard to prove his strength.

* * *

Back at the circle, Aries was talking to six of the signs. She didn't dare reveal her plans to all of the signs, since five of the signs were against her, and she knew it. Those water signs were especially annoying.

"The Scorpio month will start tomorrow," said Aries, "So we need to take Scorpio while he's down. The water signs are powerless against me unless all three of them are working together. Scorpio's weakest point will be on his birthday, which ironically will fall on the full moon in the sign of Scorpio. With both the sun and moon in Scorpio, he will be unusually weak that day. We'll take him then."

The other signs nodded their understanding. They knew that none of the water signs would submit willingly to Aries, especially Scorpio, being a fighter. He would have to be taken by force to complete the circle. Then they could all unite, and give Aries enough power to rule the land.

Of course, there was one slight little problem. Pisces was the most psychic sign in the zodiac, and she knew exactly where the other two water signs were. If they didn't stop her, she was going to find them first.

_**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to offer suggestions (especially if you have an idea of how you'd like to see a particular sign act) or ask questions. Heck, you can even make guesses if you want, but don't expect me to tell you whether you're right or not, heh. If you're that desperate to know some spoilers, then private message me and specifically ask me for spoilers, hehe.**_

_**Okay, hopefully I'll have the next chapter up soon. Now review and I'll get it up sooner rather than later. Take care!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Yeah! A new chapter! Hope that you enjoy! All your reviews convinced me to upload another chapter sooner, so please leave me lots of reviews for this chapter too. Heh.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I sure wish I did though. Heck, I'm not THAT creative! Heh!**_

Al woke up the next morning and casually looked around. They had wandered into the woods, and had no idea exactly where they were, but they weren't concerned about that. They had simply made a nice bed out of pine needles for Ed to sleep on as soon as he started getting tired. Al didn't need a bed, being a suit of armor, after all.

Al glanced over at his brother, who was still asleep. He always tried so hard to act tough, but he looked just like a helpless child in his sleep. Al wondered if his brother put on that tough act to keep him from worrying. If so, it wasn't really working, because Al always worried about his brother.

Al reached over and gently shook his brother awake. "Brother…it's time to get up. We need to get moving while it's daylight."

Ed yawned and said, "Just let me sleep a little longer. We can always travel by moonlight."

"Brother, tonight is the new moon. There won't be any moon out tonight. Wake up!" Al shook him a little more vigorously.

Finally, Ed opened his eyes and sat up. His eyes looked red from lack of sleep, and he was just staring into space like someone who hadn't yet had their morning coffee.

"Brother, what's the matter?" asked a concerned Al.

"Nothing," yawned Ed, "I just didn't get any sleep last night, that's all." He stretched his arms and yawned again. He closed his eyes again for a second, and then promptly collapsed back into his bed.

"Brother!" yelled Al, shaking him awake once again, "Something's wrong, what's the matter?"

Ed opened his eyes again, and yawned as he said, "Nothing's the matter. I'm just not used to sleeping outdoors, so I had a terrible sleep last night."

"But why did you fall asleep again so fast?" asked Al.

"I fell asleep again?" asked Ed. Al nodded. "I'm just really tired is all. Just give me a couple hours, and I'll be my normal self."

"But we don't have a couple hours to waste," reminded Al.

"You're right, we don't," said Ed as he carefully pushed himself to a standing position and yawned again. "We'll just have to spend those couple hours walking."

"Are you sure you're okay, Brother?" asked a worried Al.

"Never better," yawned Ed, "Now come on, Al, we don't have all day." Al quickly moved his body to get in step with his brother. He sure hoped that Ed was okay.

* * *

Back at the circle, Aries was talking to the signs. At least, the ones she trusted.

"Pisces is going to go looking for Scorpio and Cancer, but being a water sign herself, her moves are easy to predict. The waters signs are naturally attracted to water, so she's likely heading for the lake, supposing that Cancer and Scorpio are as well. Since water and fire don't mix, I want Leo and Sagittarius to go and overwhelm her psychic senses. That should make her not be able to perceive the other water signs for a short time. Now go!"

The two fire signs changed into their fiery forms and launched themselves into the sky, heading in the direction of the lake.

"Even if you managed to capture all the water signs, that still won't make you an all-powerful ruler," came a voice from behind her, "You need the cooperation of all twelve signs to accomplish that."

Aries turned to see the man who was speaking. She laughed in a scoffing manner. "I have no need to fear Aquarius, as air feeds fire. As for you, Taurus, an earth sign isn't much of a threat. Besides, I happen to know that if I have all the other signs under my control, you'll give in and submit to me."

Taurus shrugged, almost as if he didn't care. "You know how much I am against your plotting for power. I have no need to fight you myself, because I know you will indeed be defeated by the three water signs and possibly even the air sign that you so casually toss aside. You will fall, and I'll help those against you in any way I can."

Aries chuckled and then smirked. "You talk big now, but you'll see my way of things when the water signs and the rogue air sign have been captured."

Taurus just shrugged, and then left. "Stubborn," muttered Aries, "Stubborn as…well, a bull."

* * *

Back at the lake, Pisces was staring out over the water, muttering, "Please find me soon, my fellow water signs. We need you." Suddenly, she gasped and spun around. Two fiery forms had landed behind her, which promptly turned into their human forms.

"Leo and Sagittarius, what are you doing here?" she demanded.

"We have orders straight from Aries," said Leo with a bit of a gloat.

"I'm not going back with you!" yelled Pisces.

Sagittarius smirked. "This is going to be fun!" she said. She then converted into her fiery form and surrounded Pisces in the flames. Pisces screamed. She hated fire more than anything else.

"What's the matter, Pisces?" asked an indignant Leo, "Why don't you just turn into your native element and save yourself?" He then turned into his fiery form, and launched a blast of fire at Pisces.

Luckily, being psychic, she was able to anticipate that blast in time to convert herself into her native form. She splashed water over the flames of Sagittarius to try and douse the flames somewhat. Sagittarius simply parted her flames wherever the water hit, and then put them back in place as soon as the threat was gone. Leo continued firing his fire blasts.

This went on for several minutes until Pisces converted back into her human form, grabbed her head, and let out and ear-splitting scream. This was the cue that the two fire beings were looking for, so they turned back into their human forms and stood staring at the panicked woman before them.

"Not so tough now, are we, Pisces?" mocked Sagittarius. Pisces was still crying and screaming from the overload of psychic pain she was experiencing. The two fire signs laughed.

"Well, our work here is done," said Leo, "Let's get back to the circle."

"Good," whined Sagittarius, "This is getting boring. I want to go do something fun!" The two fire signs converted back into their fiery forms and launched themselves into the sky, leaving Pisces still gripping her throbbing head.

* * *

"Brother, did you hear that?" asked Al.

"Yes," said Edward, rubbing his eyes and yawning, "It sounded like a woman screaming. Let's go check it out."

Within a few minutes, the boys found themselves in a clearing by the lake. A woman was gripping her head and sobbing pitifully. Ed and Al couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

Al walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. He didn't know what to say, but he wanted to just let her know that he cared.

Ed was able to come up with words more easily than Al. "What's the matter? Is there any way we can help?"

The woman shook her head and continued sobbing. "Could you at least tell us what's wrong?" Ed knelt down in front of her.

"My head!" cried the woman, sobbing some more.

"Could we get some medicine?" Al finally managed to say.

"NO!" she yelled, "That will dampen my psychic abilities even more, and the fate of this country depends on them!"

Ed narrowed his eyes. "How so? Are you one of the signs of the zodiac?"

Pisces looked up into Ed's golden eyes, which had suddenly taken on a very angry look. This couldn't be good, she thought, not good at all.

_**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Now review, and let me know what you think! Yeah! Heh heh heh.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.**_

No one said anything for several minutes as Edward and Pisces locked stares with each other. Finally, Pisces said, "I am Pisces, who are you?"

Edward leaped up and clapped his hands together and formed a blade on his auto-mail arm. He lunged at her, but she just quickly turned into water, so he passed right through her.

Edward landed on his hands and knees and started gulping for breath. Pisces walked up to him. "Why do you want to kill me?"

Edward jumped up and again tried to hit her with his blade, but she just ducked out of his way. "You're awfully slow," she said, "You're lucky that I'm a water sign, or I'd be trying to kill you right now. It would take much effort with your speed."

That remark made Ed mad, so he lunged at her again. She simply converted to into her native elemental form again, and Ed once again passed through her.

He landed on his hands and knees and once again was gasping for breath. He soon started choking and coughing up blood.

"Brother!" yelled Al.

"I'm fine, Al," said Ed, defiantly.

"No you're not; you've been weak all day. You can't fight like this!"

"Stay out of this!" Ed moved his hand toward Al in a "stop" gesture, but it just caused Ed to fall flat on his face.

Pisces walked up to him. "You've obviously in no condition to fight, and I don't want to fight you, so why are you trying to kill me?"

"Because," said Edward between gasps, "I have orders to destroy all the sighs of the zodiac."

"How can you expect to fight in this condition?" she asked.

"I'm not normally like this, okay?" Ed looked up at her and wiped some blood away from his mouth.

"Well," said Pisces, "As corrupt as the military is in this country, I don't think that they would send a child to do something that would even be dangerous to an entire army. Aries probably has something to do with your being here."

"She does not!" Ed yelled as he stood up, "I'm not being controlled by Aries. I was sent on this mission by Colonel Mustang himself."

"Are you sure?" asked Pisces, "Are you sure that is was really the Colonel that sent you? Aries knows someone that can change their shape at will."

Envy, thought Edward. "Even if that's so," said Edward, "That still proves that you zodiac people can't be trusted."

Pisces shook her head, which was still in pain, "You're such an idiot. Some of us are very much opposed to Aries, and want her overthrown. If we can find all three water signs, we can overthrow her. I am one of them. If you want to be truly helpful to your country, you'll help me find Scorpio and Cancer."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Ed said skeptically.

She threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "I'm Pisces! I'm always trying to help others. Didn't you study astrology at all before coming on this mission?"

Edward clapped his hands together and retracted his blade back into his arm. "Heh, any sign can be either good or bad, even Pisces."

Pisces sighed. "Well, would it make you feel better if we got to know each other a little better before you decide whether I'm worth trusting or not?"

Edward shrugged. "It would help a little, I guess." The three sat down by the lake and began to talk.

"As you know, I am Pisces. Several of the signs have other names besides their sign name, but I don't. I was born to a poor family that lived out in the woods on March 17, 30 years ago. When I was 17, Aries found me, and brought me to the circle against my will. I've been trying to escape ever since, but I can't without the help of the other water signs."

"Brother, we need to help her," said Al.

"If she's telling the truth, yes," said Edward, "But that has yet to be determined."

"So, tell me something about you," said Pisces, rubbing her forehead. The pain was beginning to die down, finally.

"We were born in a little town called Rizenbul," said Al. "Our father left when we were very young, and our mother died when I was 10. We studied and learned alchemy, and then Brother joined the military as a State Alchemist."

"He's a State Alchemist, really?" Pisces looked surprised. "He's awfully young to be a State Alchemist."

"He's the youngest on record," said Al, "Having become a State Alchemist at the age of 12."

"Impressive," said Pisces. "Now, I'm curious. When are your birthdays?"

"What does it matter?" said Ed, crossing his arms.

"I'm just curious," said Pisces.

"Brother, she's just curious," said Al, who then turned to Pisces and said, "I was born on July 12."

Edward sighed, and gave in. "I was born on November 3rd." He put up his hand. "Yes, before you say anything, I know that that's only a couple week away." It was funny that he'd done that, because Pisces really was about to comment on that. No one can resist commenting on a upcoming birthday.

Pisces stood up, and said, "My headache's gone, thank you. You two are in absolutely no condition to fight against Aries."

She walked up to Al and whispered to him, "Forgive me." Then, she quickly grabbed him and threw him into the lake.

Edward was dumbfounded. He couldn't say or do anything for a moment. If that blood seal was washed off of Al's armor, he would die. That was why he couldn't go into the water.

He turned to face Pisces, tears of rage running down his face. "You will pay for what you did, you murderer!"

He charged at Pisces, not even taking the time to transmute the blade back onto his hand. He was just so angry, he couldn't take the time to think through a transmutation.

He thrust a punch at Pisces. She ducked, grabbed his arm, and threw him over her shoulder into the lake.

Edward was sinking down into the water. He didn't care to fight it. If Al was dead, he might as well be too, and this was one of the easiest ways to die. So, Edward shuttered one last time, and then everything went black.

_**Thanks for reading. Now review!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hey, welcome back! I'll keep this sentence short, since I don't want to get killed by all of you who are trying to find out what happened to Ed and Al. (Dodges a rock) Hey, wait until after the chapter, okay?**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I merely wish I did.**_

Edward woke up on the shore of the lake, coughing and sputtering. He didn't know how he had survived, but he wished he hadn't. Al was gone, and he didn't want to continue living without him. Ed kept his eyes closed. He didn't want to look and see that Al wasn't there. Maybe this was all just a bad dream that he'd wake up from soon. Maybe.

"So, I see you're awake, FullMetal boy?" Edward knew that that voice belonged to Pisces. He clamped his eyes shut even harder. He didn't want to see her. He didn't even want to hear her.

Pisces lifted his chin with her hand and looked into his face. "For goodness' sake, son, things aren't as hopeless as you're making them out to be."

"Get away from me," mumbled Ed, "I don't ever want to see you again."

"Very well," said Pisces, standing up. "Oh, by the way, I think this belongs to you." Ed heard her plop something big and heavy down by his right side.

Edward finally opened his eyes to see what it was she had dropped. It was his auto-mail arm. How dare she remove it. He reached out to grab it with his right arm, since that arm was closest. Wait, right arm?

Edward sat up and examined his right arm. It was fully flesh and perfectly restored. He quickly drew back his left pant leg to see if the same thing had happened to his leg. It had. He was back in his normal body, but at what cost? Al.

Edward started to cry when he thought of Al's name, when he heard some coughing and sputtering from somewhere left of him. He turned and looked, and saw a child lying face-down on the shore a few yards distant.

Who is that? Thought Ed. He got up and walked over to the child, then flipped him over so that he could see his face. Wait, that hair, those eyes, it was…

"Al!" Ed cried.

"Brother?" said the child, who then suddenly realized what had happened. "Brother, I'm back in my normal body!"

Edward threw his arms around Al and sat there crying his eyes out for quite some time without saying a word. When he finally spoke, all he could do was keep repeating, "I thought I'd lost you…I thought I'd lost you…"

Al didn't say a word through all of this. He wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't even sure what had happened, since everything had happened so fast.

"I hope you boys are able to forgive me now," said Pisces, suddenly walking into the scene.

"I'll never forgive you for what you did!" shouted Edward, "You nearly killed my little brother!"

"I did no such thing," said Pisces, "These waters are healing. You needed to regenerate your bodies if you wanted to fight Aries."

Edward was silent for a moment, but was still clinging to Al, for fear of losing him again. "Why didn't you tell us that these waters were healing before you threw us in?"

Pisces chuckled. "Do you honestly think you would have believed me if I had?"

"I suppose not," Edward consented, "I'm still not totally sure if I can trust you though."

"You had better make up your mind about that soon," said Pisces, "Aries has plans to capture you."

"What would she want with me?" asked a shocked Ed as he put his hand to his chest.

"You are the greatest threat of al the water signs…Scorpio."

Edward gasped. "Wait, you're not saying that I'm one of the…"

"…The signs of the zodiac?" Pisces finished. "Yes, you are indeed, you and your brother both. That is why they water healed you. A water sign cannot drown."

"Wait, you're saying that we're the other two water signs?" asked Ed.

Pisces turned her head and looked directly at him. "That is exactly what I'm saying."

Both boys gasped, and were silent for a brief moment. "But…" Al finally ventured, "We can't turn into water like you can. How can we be water signs?"

Pisces chuckled. "You two can turn into you watery forms, or your bodies wouldn't be healed now. You had to convert to your elemental forms to do that. Since you had had no experience with doing so before, I simply placed you in an environment where you were surrounded by your native element to make it easier for you. You also needed that surrounding water in order to heal your bodies, since you had both lost so much. Your bodies are made entirely out of water, unlike a human being's, so you needed water to regenerate."

"Unlike a human being's?" said Ed, "We are human beings."

Pisces chuckled. "It must be difficult to find out that you're not human after being raised as one. None of the signs are human. We are a different creature entirely."

Edward and Al sat silent for a moment, then Ed said, "How do you explain the fact that we were born to human parents? Wouldn't that make us human?"

"The signs of the zodiac can have children with human beings. Chances are, one of your parents was human, and the other was one of us."

Edward clenched his fist, and mumbled under his breath, "Father, I hate you now more than ever. Not only did you leave us and Mom, but you never revealed to us our true nature."

Al tried to talk some sense into Ed, but he shouldn't have wasted his breath. He knew his brother never listened to reason when he was mad. That must've been the Scorpio in him.

Al turned to face Pisces. "Can you teach us how to convert to our watery forms?"

Pisces shrugged. "It's an inborn ability, but I suppose that I can try and coach you through it."

Ed and Al finally stood up. It was strange; Ed was once again the taller of the two.

"Show me how to do it," said Edward.

"Okay," sighed Pisces, "I'll try. Stick out your hand, so you'll have an easy focal point. Good, now close your eyes, and just relax. You're doing fine. Okay, now try to feel your hand turning into its watery form."

"I can't do it!" Edward shook his head.

"Yes, you can," said Pisces, "Don't think so hard, just feel it. Relax, and feel it."

Edward kept his eyes closed, took a deep breath, and proceeded to try again.

"Relax," reminded Pisces, "Just feel it." Edward did his best to follow her instructions.

"Brother!" cried Al, "Your hand turned into water!"

Ed opened his eyes, but didn't see any different in his hand. "I don't see anything," he said.

"No, of course you don't," said Pisces, "You lost your concentration when you opened your eyes. It's also more difficult for you at this time of the year than at any other time."

"What's so special about this time of the year?" asked Ed.

"This is the Scorpio month," said Pisces, "Your weak point."

Ed clapped his hand over his forehead and sank down to his knees. No wonder he'd bee feeling so low all day! Aries must've planned on him coming out here like this, to have him come during his weak time.

"I'm not going to get any weaker, am I?" asked Ed, a bit concerned about keeping his image.

"Actually, yes you are," said Pisces, "You'll continue to get weaker each day as the moon waxes. When it's full, you'll be at your weakest time."

"And when does the full moon occur?"

"November 3rd."

Edward sat down and sighed. His weakest day would have to be on his birthday, wouldn't it? Apparently, the signs of the zodiac couldn't necessarily celebrate their births as a joyous occasion. At least, not with a ruler like Aries, they couldn't.

Edward stood back up. "Since this is the strongest day I'll have all month, I want to make sure to learn how to transform today. Coach me again."

Pisces continued coaching Edward. Soon, he had transformed his hand into his native element, followed by his arms and soon his entire body. Al couldn't believe it when he saw the watery mass that was his brother.

Finally, Ed came back to his human form. "That feels strange, yet so… refreshing," he said.

"Changing into our native elements is how we regenerate ourselves," said Pisces, "That's why if feels so refreshing.

"Can you coach me now?" asked Al, eagerly.

Pisces smiled. "You won't take long to coach. It's not the Cancer month."

"So, that means that I'm Cancer?"

"Indeed, you are."

Al thought it was weird to be called the name of one of the signs of the zodiac, but he figured that he'd better just get used to it.

Pisces began coaching Al through the transformation process. He was able to transform his entire body on the first try, without much coaching. That was really easy, thought Al, Brother must really be suffering from the effects of the Scorpio month.

Ed yawned. "Can we call it a day? I'm really tired."

Pisces chuckled. "Sure, I'm getting a little tired myself."

"Where do we sleep?" asked Al, "Even I need a bed now."

"Not necessarily," said Pisces, "Not if we sleep in our elemental forms."

"Do you meant hat we can sleep in our watery forms?" asked Ed.

Pisces nodded. "Actually, it would be safer that way. If we all converted to our watery forms and slept in the lake, Aries wouldn't be able to get to us until we came back out."

"I'm all for that," said Edward, who converted to his watery form and jumped into the lake. He was soon followed by Pisces.

Al stood for a moment and watched the sunset over the lake. He had always liked water, but had never known why. He had even always gone to the river every time he had gotten into an argument with his brother.

Yes, this water felt like home to him, but it was so weird to be changing back and forth between human and watery forms. Oh well, he sighed, he would just have to get used to it. He then changed into his watery form and jumped into the lake.

_**Hope you liked that chapter better than the last one. Heh, sorry about that cliffhanger back there.**_

_**Hehe…Are you wondering where Ed's and Al's birthdays came from? Ed's birthday is the same day as one of my friend's (Hi, Nicholas, if you're reading this!) Yes, he's a Scorpio.**_

_**As for Cancer, I could have used my birthday, since I'm technically a Cancer, but I'm on the Cancer-Gemini cusp, and I didn't think it a good idea to stick Al there. He's not nearly as talkative as I am (since I'm on the Gemini cusp). So, I gave him my cat's birthday. Heh, yes, really! She's as much a textbook Cancer as you can get, cat or no!**_

_**Anyway, check back soon, as I'm sure to have an update sooner or later. In the meantime, review!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**I've been getting a lot of reviews asking me if I'm going to include their signs. Don't worry; I'll include all the signs sooner or later. Some signs will have a larger role than others, and some will be good, some will be evil. Don't be surprised if your sign turns out to be an evil one, heh. Gotta have a few bad guys, right? Hehe.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. I'm still saying this, and it's still true. Heh. Take note of this, since apparently I need to always repeat it. Write it down and repeat it three times a day if you can't remember it, okay? Heh.**_

After the three water beings woke up the next morning, they discussed what would be the best course of action for that day.

"We need to work fast, because Scorpio's…uh, I mean, Ed's strength is growing weaker all the time."

"Don't remind me," said Ed, rubbing his eyes, "So what do you suggest we do today? Should we seek out Aries, or is there something else we should do first?"

Pisces thought for a moment. "Aries is expecting our attack, so we need to find some was that'll catch her off guard." She snapped her fingers. "That's it! If we can enlist the help of Aquarius, we'd be sure to have an advantage!"

"What can Aquarius do?" asked Ed.

"Aquarius is an air sign, and she's opposed to Aries. All air signs can get from place to place rather quickly, whereas we water signs are rather slow compared to the fire and air signs. Being the water-bearer, she can actually carry us with her at her amazing speed. None of the other signs can carry other signs with them, only Aquarius."

"Okay, so how can we find this Aquarius?" asked Ed.

"I can tune into her and locate her," said Pisces, "I just can't say exactly which town she's in or anything. We would pretty much have to get on a train and go until I knew it was time to stop."

"That's probably as good of a lead as we're going to get," said Edward, standing up. "We have to no time to lose, so come on." He turned and started walking.

"Your brother sure likes to take charge of things, doesn't he?" said Pisces.

"That's just the way he is," said Al, "He's been like that ever since we lost our mother."

* * *

Roy Mustang still didn't know where he was going, but he figured that going on guesses was better than doing nothing at all. He was walking through the woods, when he smelled the smell of water nearby. "A lake," he said to himself, "FullMetal and his brother probably headed there. Water signs are naturally attracted to water. I wonder if they've discovered their true nature yet. I hope they have."

He pushed his way through the dense foliage and finally found himself at the lake. No one was here now, but he could tell that someone had been here recently. He saw indications of a fight, or perhaps more than one, since he saw indications of a battle between those in human form, as well as those of a battle between the elements. He also noticed fresher footprints that were placed calmly alongside each other, three sets of them. He recognized one set of footprints as being Edward's, but he couldn't place the other two.

He scanned the shoreline and caught a glint of something metal. He headed over to it to see what it was. It was Ed's auto-mail arm. He hoped that Ed had left it simply because he'd found a way to get his normal body back, and not because it had been taken from him by force.

He looked again at the three sets of footprints. He couldn't track the footprints once they got out of the clearing, but he could still get an idea of which way they were headed. At least he had a lead. He would go back to his car and head to the nearest town. Maybe they'd headed there. Maybe.

* * *

Ed, Al, and Pisces had boarded the train, and were heading for who knows where, just depending on Pisces' intuition. They had no choice but to do so, for Aries would capture them and take over the land if they didn't, especially with Ed in his weakened state.

After riding for some time, Pisces said, "We need to get off at the next station. Aquarius is here."

When the train stopped, the boys gasped in surprise. They'd been here before!

"Aren't all the signs of the zodiac alchemists?" asked Ed. Pisces nodded. Ed turned his head back to the window and said, "The only alchemist I know of in Dublith is…Sensei."

Al gasped. "Brother, do you really think Sensei is one of the signs?"

"I don't know, maybe," said Ed, "I'm kind of hoping it's her. I know that I can trust her."

The three people piled out of the train and followed Pisces. She didn't know this town, but she knew her senses. She led them straight to Izumi's house.

"It's her," said Ed, "I wonder if she knows what she is."

Edward knocked on the door. Izumi's husband opened the door, took one look at them, and promptly slammed it shut.

"Hey, what gives?" shouted Ed, "You know us!"

"That woman you're with is one of the signs," said the man's voice from behind the door, "I won't let her take Izumi."

Edward shook his head, this was kind of annoying. He cast his eyes downward and noticed a tiny bit of space between the door and the ground. "I'm going in," he said.

"But, Brother, we shouldn't intrude," said Al. Again, he shouldn't have wasted his breath, because Ed simply converted to his watery form and slipped under the door.

Once on the other side of the door, Ed returned to his human form. Izumi's husband was standing over him with a club in his hands, but dropped it when he realized who it was. "You're…one of them?"

"Yes," said Ed, "But all three of us are opposed to Aries. If we're to defeat her, we'll need Sensei's help."

"She's too weak to fight," said the man in a gruff voice.

"She could recover if she'd just return to her native form," said Ed. "Look," he pulled back his right sleeve, "No auto-mail."

The man grunted and then went to get Izumi. After a moment, Izumi walked out into the living room.

"Edward, what are you doing here? I never expected a visit from you."

"I didn't expect to be paying a visit to you either," admitted Ed, "But I need you help."

"What can I do you help?" she asked.

"I need you to return to your native form."

Izumi narrowed her eyes and looked at Edward. "How do you know about that?"

"Because," he sighed, "I'm Scorpio." She gasped. He was one of the signs of the zodiac? Was Al one of them too? Why hadn't they ever told her?

"They just discovered their true nature," said Pisces, reading her thoughts. Apparently, she had snuck in the same way Ed had.

"Pisces?" said Izumi, "I hope you're still opposed to Aries."

"I am," she said, "We all are. The three water signs are finally together, but we'll need the help of the water-bearer to get the edge on Aries. You should heal once you convert to your native element."

"I know," replied Izumi, "But I hate converting to my native element. It reminds me too much of being under Aries' control. That's why I haven't transformed for years."

"You're going to have to transform soon, whether you want to or not," said Pisces. "Aries knows exactly where you are, and she's planning on capturing all the signs to unite them in the circle."

Izumi sighed. "Okay, I'll transform if it's for a good cause, especially if it will help my children." She still thought of Ed and Al as her children, even though they were no longer apprenticed to her.

Izumi took a deep breath and then began to transform. Soon, a breeze was rushing through the house. Ed and Al know that that was Izumi in her elemental form. The breeze began to swirl in the center of the room.

"Convert to your native elemental forms now," said Pisces, "And get inside that cyclone." The boys and Pisces did so, even though Ed and Al hadn't a clue as to why.

Soon after, Izumi returned to her human form, completely healed and refreshed. She should have converted to that form long ago.

"Ah! Where are we?" called Ed, quite confused.

Izumi laughed. "They don't call me the water-bearer for nothing, Edward. The three of you are inside of me."

"Inside of you?" cried Edward, "In your human form?"

Izumi shrugged her shoulders. "Yes, I'm in my human form right now. That's the best way for you three to sneak in. Aries doesn't fear me, so she won't suspect anything if she can't see you."

"This is still pretty freaky," said Edward, trying to see how far he could stretch in her body. He couldn't stretch very far, and it appeared that he couldn't get out of her body either.

Izumi chuckled. "Don't worry, Edward, I'll let you out when it's time." With that, she went and explained things to her husband, kissed him goodbye, then converted to her elemental form and flew off, carrying the three water signs with her.

_**Yes, I know, that chapter was quite weird. I like weird, and hopefully you do too. If you don't like weird, then I have no idea why you're even reading this story, hehehe. Hope you enjoyed it.**_

_**Review! Please, review!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Yeah, another chapter, finally! Sorry it took me so long to update anything. I've been trying to get a job, and interviews kind of cut into my day. Heh. I still try to update when I get the chance though. Enjoy the story!**_

_**Disclaimer: Yeah, like I've been saying again and again and again…I don't own FullMetal Alchemist!**_

Izumi set down on a grassy spot beside a river and formed her cyclone again. "Boys," she said, "Make sure that you're in your watery forms, so that you can come out. You can only move in or out of me while I'm forming a cyclone."

The boys had been mostly in their watery forms already, since there was no way that three humans could fit inside Izumi's human form, but they made sure that they converted completely to their watery forms, and then stepped out of the cyclone.

Everyone converted back to their human forms, and the water signs stretched their arms. "It feels so good to be out again," said Ed, then quickly added, "Not that I didn't appreciate the lift."

Izumi chuckled. "I understand that it's a little cramped inside my body. You simply depend on me for my speed, since water signs are relatively slow."

Edward wasn't sure that he liked being called slow, but how could he argue against it? It was a true statement, after all.

He lifted his eyes and looked around. "Wait," he said, "This isn't the circle, this is Rizenbul."

"Of course it's Rizenbul," said Izumi. "I can't just go and seek out Aries, or she'd know what was going on. The fact that I can carry the three of you is the only possible threat that I pose to her, and she knows it. The only way to surprise her is to let her capture me while you three are inside me without her knowledge."

"But why are we at Rizenbul?" asked Edward.

"You need to take you time and plan things out before going into a fight, especially in your time of weakness, Scorpio," Izumi narrowed her eyes as she said his sign name, almost in a derogatory manner. "Since your family is here, I figured that they could help you by giving you moral support."

"Are you crazy?" shouted Ed, "I can't let them know what kind of monster I turned out to be!"

Izumi stood up, grabbed Ed by the shoulder, then flipped him over her shoulder and slammed him on the ground. As soon as he came out of his dazed state, she said, "We are not monsters, Ed. We may not be human, but we're not monsters."

"Then what do you say we are?" said Ed as he sat up and rubbed his head.

"We are a special kind of creature put here to protect this world, thought, unfortunately, some of our members abuse their power. It's quite unfortunate that the one abusing their power in this generation is Aries, since Aries is supposed to be the leader of the circle."

Edward nodded. He didn't funny understand yet, but he was trying to at least accept his role in the cosmic scheme of things.

Suddenly, Edward stood up. "I think I'm going to go and play a trick on Winry. She doesn't startle easily, but I think that this'll do it." He chuckled and ran off to the Rockbell house. The others rolled their eyes and followed him to see what he would do.

Back at the house, Winry was working on some auto-mail, when she suddenly noticed that she was standing in a puddle of water. "What the heck?" she said as she turned around to go and find something to clean it up.

When she turned around, however, she saw a watery form rise up out of the mass of water, and come toward her. Her eyes grew wide, and her jaw dropped. What was going on?

The watery mass backed her up against the workbench and pressed itself to her face. Then, slowly transforming into human form, she could see that it was Ed, stealing a kiss.

She picked up her wrench and whacked him over the head, sending him flying to the ground. "I don't know how you did that, Ed," she said, "But don't you ever do that again."

Ed was chuckling while rubbing the sore spot on his head. "You should have seen the look on your face when you realize it was me!" he laughed.

"Geez!" said Winry as she turned around and stomped out of the room. He had really gotten her good that time, and it was worth every bit of the pain.

Naturally, the Rockbells hadn't expected guests just then, but they managed to adapt quickly by throwing in a few side dishes. Ed sat in the living room cradling his still throbbing head in his hands, trying to decide if it was worth having Winry clobber him again if he were to transform into his elemental form to heal the headache. He decided against it, since he would just be trading an old headache for a new one.

"So," said Winry, running into the room, out of breath, "Is it just you and Al that are visiting?"

"No," said Ed, "Sensei's here too, and so it another lady you haven't met yet." He paused for a second and said, "Al is back in his normal body as well."

"WHAT?" yelled Winry, excitedly, "You found a way to get Al's body back?" She grabbed him and hugged him for a second, and then let go of him with a start. "You don't have auto-mail anymore."

"No, I don't," Ed shook his head, "I'm sorry, Winry. I hadn't expected to get either of our normal bodies back so soon, but the lady you're about to meet knew a way, and she kind of…imposed it on us, without warning." Edward chuckled.

"What are you talking about? Tell me what happened!" begged Winry.

"It's a long story," sighed Edward.

Winry was about to press him for more information, but she heard a knock at the door. "That's probably the rest of the group," said Winry, who proceeded to get up and start towards the door. She turned around and eyed Ed, "But you're still not getting out of telling me what happened."

She headed to the door. Edward could hear shrieks of joy which he guessed were over seeing Al in his normal body again. After a few moments, the whole band came parading into the house, with Winry at the lead.

Pinako came out and announced that dinner was ready, so everyone rushed to the table. They hadn't eaten all day, and they were starved.

A few minutes into the meal, Pinako asked, "So, what brings you boys here?" Edward put down his chopsticks and sighed. This was going to be quite a long story. He just hoped they could take it.

_**Hope you enjoyed it. Now, review, and I might update sooner! Hehe**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hey, everyone, sorry that it took me so long to update this story. I sometimes have trouble finding inspiration to continue (or I'll get obsessed with writing another story, which in this case is "The Zombie Alchemist", heh). Both situations happened with this one, hehe.**_

_**Anyway, hope that you enjoy the story. Please leave me a review and tell me what you think!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. Enough said. I don't need to come up with silly things to say all the time, do I?**_

Everyone was silent after everything had been spelled out. None of the signs knew what to say, and the humans couldn't speak. The food just sat there getting cold while everyone waited in awkward silence.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "I'll get the door," said Edward. He got up and walked over to the door. He opened it to find a man standing there, obviously confused.

"Excuse me for intruding," said the man, "But I seem to be lost. Would you be so kind as to help me find my way to…?"

Edward didn't listen to the rest of the man's words. He narrowed his eyes and stared deeply into those of the man before him. "I know you," he said, gritting his teeth.

The man snapped his attention back from his asking for help and gasped. "You are…!"

"DIE!" shouted Edward as he lunged at the man, knocking them both outside. The two toppled over onto the ground. Edward sprang onto the man and thrust a punch at him. The man ducked his head just in time. Edward sprang another punch at him, but the man again ducked.

"Edward, what are you doing?" Winry shouted as she and everyone else came running outdoors. Edward paid no attention, but kept trying to clobber the man, who kept dodging Edward's punches.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere came an arrow that struck Edward in the back. He gripped his back in pain, and then fell over, motionless.

"Edward!" screamed Winry, running over to her wounded friend. Edward's breathing was shallow, and he seemed to be in great pain.

He opened his eyes. "Winry…" he said, before his eyes closed again. Winry was panicking. Who would do this to Ed? Sure, Ed was attacking that man, but he must have had a good reason, right?

A man walked out of the shadows, followed by a woman, carrying a bow and arrows. "Hurry," said the man, "Let's get these two inside before their condition gets worse."

Nobody argued with that. Everyone helped Edward and Edward's victim back into the house, followed by the stranger and the archer. The stranger proceeded to treat the wounds of the two injured people, and he seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

"It happens every time, doesn't it?" muttered the stranger under his breath.

"What happens every time? What's going on? Will Ed be okay?"

"You're just full of questions, aren't you missy?" said the stranger, turning to Winry. "I'll answer your questions soon. Right now, I need you to help me get these two into separate rooms, or they'll fight again when they wake up."

Winry couldn't figure out why Edward would fight again, but then, she couldn't figure out why Ed had fought in the first place, so without asking questions, she helped to move the other man into a separate room.

As soon as the other man was safely in that other room, Winry turned to the stranger and asked, "Who are you, and what do you know about this that we don't?"

"Step outside with me, and I'll show you," said the man.

"Winry and the man stepped outside into the quiet, dark night of the countryside.

"Look up at the sky," said the man, "What do you see?"

"The stars," said Winry, trying to figure out where this was going.

"Good," said the man, "Now look beyond that, and tell me what you see."

Winry throught for a moment, and then said, "I see constellations."

"You're quite perceptive," chuckled the man. "Point out one of the constellations."

Winry pointed to a very bright constellatioin that had three bright stars all lined up in a row. "That's Orion," she said.

"Indeed, it is," said the man, "You're a smart girl."

Winry chuckled. "Not really. Ed, Al, and I used to sit out here for hours some nights just watching the starts and pointing out constellations."

The man smiled. "Then you no doubt realize that the signs of the zodiac are constellations too."

Winry gave him a puzzled expression, so he continued. "The signs of the zodiac are a special group, with special powers, so they'll no doubt tell you that there are only twelve of their kind. In reality, however, they are a lot more of their kind than they like to admit.

"You see, missy, all these various constellations are actually living beings. Each of them manifests themselves in the world as a person. They'll take on a different mind and a different body with each incarnation, naturally, but it's still the same spirit manifesting itself as a person. When you look up into the summer sky and see Scorpio, you are actually looking at Edward's spirit."

"So…you're saying…that Edward is really a group of stars?" asked Winry.

The man chuckled. "Well, it's something like that, but his physical body is very real too, and his feelings towards you are genuine. Looking up at these stars, he might seem distant to you, even though he can't be seen this time of year, but his heart genuinely cares about you."

This was a lot to take in all at once. In one night, she had not only learned that Ed and Al weren't human, but now that they were actually manifestations of the stars. Ed and Al probably didn't even know that themselves yet. Could she handle it?

Winry turned back to the man. "How do you know all this…and why did Ed fight with that guy without warning?"

The man sighed. "That battle has been going on for millennia, though I can't say what it started over. That man that Edward attacked is Orion, and for some reason, Scorpio hates Orion. He actually killed him once."

"Ed killed a man?" asked Winry, shocked beyond belief.

The man shook his head, chuckling. "No, Ed didn't kill him, Scorpio did. True, Scorpio is Ed, but Ed isn't Scorpio. Scorpio is simply manifesting as Edward in this incarnation, but Edward has no memory of that battle."

"Then why did he attack Orion?"

"Edward's spirit can overpower his mind if it deems necessary. While Edward would never attack someone like he did tonight, Scorpio certainly would, so it was Scorpio that was attacking Orion, not Edward."

"Poor Ed," said Winry, "He probably felt like he was being possessed right then."

"He probably did, and he'll no doubt have a lot of questions when he wakes up." The man turned to go back inside the house, but Winry called out to him.

"Wait, how do you know all this, anyway? Who are you?"

The man smiled. "I am Ophiuchus. Some call me the thirteenth sign, even though I'm not technically a member of the zodiac. My job is to protect Orion and to keep and eye on Scorpio." With that, he turned and went back into the house.

Winry stayed outside and continued to gaze at the stars. All these constellations were really people? Or rather, they were spirits that manifested themselves as people. She had always felt close to the stars, but had never known why. Now she understood. He two best friends were up there.

A shiver ran through her spine. It was really strange to think about things like that. This was really new and weird to her, but quite intriguing as well. She wondered how Ed and Al were going to take this new information.

She sighed. This day had indeed been odd, but it was a day she'd never forget. Taking one last look at the starry heavens, she turned and walked into the house.

_**Hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Now, please leave me a review, and I'll be sure to update soon!**_


	9. Chapter 9

**_Hey, everybody! I finally got another chapter written up to this story! Yeah!_**

**_Since several of you asked, let me explain. First of all, the idea of using Ophiucus came from one of my reviewers, I think her name was silverwindflame. Secondly, neither Ophiucus nor the legends I referred to were made up by me or her. Ophiuchus really is the thirteenth sign (look it up in any astronomy book, not astrology, astronomy), and Scorpio really had killed Orion, which is why they are now on opposite sides of the sky. Whatever other mythology I end up putting in here relating to the stars I didn't make up either. Oh, and just in case some of you didn't notice before, Aquarius means "water bearer", so I didn't make that up either, though I did make up the part about her being able to carry the water signs. Heh. Yeah, my creativity has to go into action somewhere, right?_**

**_Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. No time for a witty comment, I only have a few minutes left on the computer. The library's about to close._**

"Winry," called Edward, just barely before he opened his eyes, "What just happened? Is this a bad dream I'm having?"

Winry shook her head. "Unfortunately, it's not."

Edward sighed. "So, why did I attack that man? I couldn't seem to control myself, no matter what I tried. I felt such hate towards him, though I can't find any logical reason why."

"It's because you're Scorpio, Ed, and that man is Orion."

Edward sat up straight, only to have the pain in his back from the arrow wound show itself again. "Ouch!" said Ed, placing his hand on the wound, "You're serious? That man is Orion?"

Winry nodded. "That's why you reacted that way when you saw him."

"Why would his being Orion make me react that way?"

"He and Scorpio hate each other, for some reason that no one can remember. When you saw him for the first time, and didn't react negatively like Scorpio normally would, the Scorpio spirit inside of you took over, and controlled your actions."

Ed shivered. "That's…creepy."

"I suppose so," said Winry, "But it's less creepy than finding out that you're not even human, isn't it?"

Ed did a slight chuckle. "I suppose so." Then, turning his head to look up at her, he said, 'Does that make you think any less of me?"

"No!" Winry practically yelled, "I don't care whether you're human or not, you're still you, and that's all that matters. It just took me a little while to get used to the idea, since it took me by surprise."

"That's good to hear," said Edward as he grimaced from the pain of the arrow wound. "I need to heal this wound. Will you clobber me if I convert back to my native element?"

Winry blushed and shook her head. "You do whatever you need to do, Ed." Edward smiled, and the converted back into his watery form. Winry stood by watching with her jaw dropped.

"Do I look really strange in this form?" Edward chuckled. It had been a long time since he'd seen that look on Winry's face. The last time she had made a face like that was during Ed and Al's first transmutation.

"Uhhh…yeah…" said Winry slowly. Edward chuckled again, as Winry continued to stare with that shocked expression on her face.

Finally Ed came back to his human form. He sighed and stretched his arms. "That's a lot better," he said.

"Wow, you can heal, just like that?" asked Winry excitedly.

"Yeah, that's how me and Al finally managed to return to our normal bodies. Sensei is healthy again too, now that she has finally transformed."

Winry thought that that was an amazing ability. That must make the signs very hard to kill. Whoever had tried to kill Ed must not have known much about the signs of the zodiac.

Ed chuckled at Winry. Upon seeing the perplexed look on her face, he explained. "I was most likely shot by one of the signs just to get me to stop attacking Orion. They never intended to kill me, and they knew that I wouldn't die by a simple arrow wound. It was probably Sagittarius, since he, or she, as the case might be in this incarnation, is a master archer."

Winry gasped. She hadn't said a word. How had he known what she was thinking? Ed chuckled again and stood up.

"While Pisces is the most psychic sign in the zodiac, she's not the only one. All the water signs are psychic as well," Edward explained.

"Then…you and Al are both…psychic?"

Edward nodded. "We just discovered it recently ourselves."

Just then, Pinako entered the room to see how Ed was doing. She was surprised to see him standing up, but just brushed it off as being one of his powers from being a member of the zodiac.

"Hey, chibi," she said, "That Orion guy is waking up too, and the only way he can leave this house is to pass through this room. Can you resist the urge to attack him just for a few moments?" Funny that she could call him short without Ed getting mad. It must've had something to do with the fact that she was even shorter than Ed, shorter than Al even.

"Hey, I don't WANT to attack the guy, but I don't seem to have a choice when he's around. Scorpio is the one responsible, not me."

"Hmmm…then could I talk to Scorpio?" said Pinako.

"Excuse me?" said Ed, snapping his attention to the little woman.

"If you're not the one responsible, I want to talk to the one that is," explained Pinako.

"I don't know what you're…" Ed was cut off mid-sentence as his eyes went blank for a brief moment, and he stared out into space.

Finally, the light returned to his eyes, and he looked back at Pinako. There was something different about him…something very un-Ed.

"I'm Scorpio," he said. Winry gasped and started walking backward towards the door. Scorpio turned toward her and said, "What are you afraid of me for? I'm the same person you always knew!"

"B-But you're n-not Ed!" she stuttered.

Scorpio sighed. "True, I'm not Ed, but Ed is me, so you should know me. I may not have the same mind Ed does, but my spirit is the same as his."

"But…" said Winry, nervously, "If your spirit is the same as Edward's, why did you attack Orion? Edward would never do that!"

Scorpio clenched his fist. "I hate that lowdown, no good…" Pinako clapper her hand over Scorpio's mouth before he uttered anything he would regret, since her frying pan wasn't far away.

Pinako and Winry both looked at each other, and then asked collectively, "Why?"

This startled Scorpio, so he unclenched his fist and looked at the two women for a moment before saying anything more. "We had a huge fight about something a long time ago."

"What was the fight about?" asked Winry, getting braver. Hey, Scorpio really did act a lot like Ed.

Scorpio crossed his arms over his chest and cast his gaze to the floor. "I-I'm not sure. I've forgotten after all this time."

"Then why do you persist?" said Winry, "Why don't you just drop it and make up?"

Scorpio pulled his arms out of their crossed position and threw them angrily down by his sides. She had struck a tender chord. "It had to have been something really big, or the powers that be wouldn't have put us on opposite sides of the sky to keep us away from each other!" he yelled.

Wow, that part of the legend was true too? Maybe all the star legends were actually true, or at least based off of reality.

"Still," said Winry, "If you don't know what you're fighting about, you shouldn't fight. Save your aggression for something that needs it, like Aries."

Scorpio thrust his hands into his pockets and looked down at the floor. "I probably look really foolish to you, don't I?"

Winry moved closer to him and lifted up his chin so that he had to look into her eyes. "I don't think you're foolish, Ed, I mean, Scorpio…just a little…misguided. I'm sure that you and Orion had a valid reason to fight back then, but that was BACK THEN. Whatever Orion did to you in the past, he hasn't done in his current incarnation. Live in the present. Your hot temper as well as your strong sensitivity will be most useful being directed at defeating Aries, but would just be wasted energy being directed at Orion."

Scorpio did a slight chuckle and pulled his chin out of Winry's hand. "I suppose you're right…but I'm not sure how to let go. When someone hurts me, I lash out. That's just my nature."

Winry put her hands on Scorpio's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "I do understand, Scorpio. I'm not asking you to fight against your nature, just that you direct that energy elsewhere, and not at Orion. If you need our help, you could always make up with him here, while we're all around to encourage you."

Tears were coming to Scorpio's eyes. "You…You would do that for me?"

"Of course I would!" said Winry, adamantly, "I've always tried to help Ed through difficult situations, and I don't see any difference between helping him and helping you. You're both basically the same person." She paused for a send, and then added, in a shyer voice, "Besides, I love Ed…and so, consequently, I love you too."

Scorpio let out what almost sounded like a chuckle, but a tear slipped out of his eye, so Winry knew what he really meant by that. He was really touched by her confession. "I…had always wondered…what your feelings for me were."

Winry smiled as tears began streaming down her face. She moved to hug Scorpio, and Scorpio hugged her in return. They shared this emotional moment for several minutes, while Pinako just looked on, smoking her pipe, and thinking, it's about time.

Finally, the two released each other, and Scorpio looked into Winry's eyes for one last moment while he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Thank you for calling me out and talking to me. It's been a long time since I've spoken without going through my current incarnation. That really helped. Thank you." With that, he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, the light in them was different than it had been before. It was back to normal. He was Ed again. "Whoa, what the heck just happened?" said Ed, pulled his hands off of Winry's shoulders and blushing.

"We spoke with Scorpio himself," said Winry, "He's a really nice person once you get to know him. You don't remember anything about it?"

Ed blushed and hung his head. "Actually, I remember everything about it, but it felt like it was all a dream…and that Scorpio has guts, telling you everything he did."

"Are you going to contradict anything he said?" asked Winry.

Ed blushed even deeper and mumbled, "…No…"

Winry laughed at his embarrassed reaction, and then grabbed him by the hand and led him out to where everyone else was waiting. Ed was human after all, or at least, he had human emotions, which are more what distinguishes a human being from other creatures than their body. She could live with this. Whatever strange secret she learned about Ed and Al in the future, she could live with it.

**_Hope you liked the chapter, now please review...and leave suggestions, if you have them!_**


	10. Chapter 10

Edward stepped out into the room where everyone was waiting. He felt a bit nervous, yet the feeling felt foreign to him, like he wasn't the one feeling it. Perhaps it was Scorpio who was nervous. It was so strange to talk about Scorpio in the third person like that, since he WAS Scorpio, but it sometimes felt like they were two different people, even though they weren't.

Ed looked around the room, and caught sight of Orion sitting at the table, holding his head in one of his hands. Ed clenched his fist and broke out in a cold sweat. He may not have had a clue as to why he hated this guy, but he still didn't like the sight of him. He was also afraid that he would go nuts again and attack him as soon as he got close to him.

Ed turned to leave the room, but Winry grabbed his sleeve and wouldn't let him go. "You can't get out of it that easily, Ed…Scorpio…whoever I'm talking to. You need to do this whether you want to or not."

Ed turned to face Winry and looked pleadingly into her eyes. Winry shook her head, and gestured toward Orion. She gently tugged on his sleeve to get him to follow her. Ed moved forward very slowly, one step at a time. He really didn't want to have to deal with this.

Finally, he was standing before Orion. Orion lifted his head and saw him. Ed's pulse rate quickened. What would he say? What COULD he say? The two stared at each other in silence for several minutes.

Orion's lips started to quiver like he was trying to say something, yet couldn't get he words out. With much effort, he finally managed to say, "I don't remember what I did to you back then, but…I'm sorry."

"I-I'm sorry too," Ed choked out. He slowly extended his hand toward Orion, and Orion grasped the shaky hand.

What felt like an electric current ran through both of them right at that moment. "What just happened?" Edward asked.

"We just broke the curse," said Orion. "We are no longer slaves to our anger and the spirit of revenge."

"We were cursed?" Ed asked in shock.

Orion looked at Edward with a how-are-you-so-stupid expression on his face. "Those that are born of the stars are very prone to falling under curses, and most of those curses are pretty hard to break."

Edward sighed and scratched the back of his head. "So…how did we fall under this curse?"

"No one can remember the situation exactly," said Orion, "But it had something to do with the fact that I did something to make you mad, and then you reacted by killing me. Since then, we've been cursed."

"Wow," said Ed, "I can't believe that I never realized that I was cursed. Do I have any other curses hanging over me?"

"I doubt it," said Orion, "Scorpio isn't stupid enough to let himself get cursed too often." Ed shivered. There was that third person speech again.

"Hey, how come most of the…uh… 'star people' I've met know so much about our kind, when me and Al know so little?"

Orion chuckled. "Most of us don't carry separate identities between our spirit and our mind like you two do. Basically, the reason that you do have separate identities is because Cancer needs a way to hide, and you, Scorpio, consider it to be a wall of protection."

"Why would I need protection?" Ed said almost indignantly.

"All the water signs are pretty vulnerable, so it's common practice for them to hide behind another identity. Pisces doesn't hide though, for some reason. That's why her psychic powers are so strong."

"Why doesn't she hide? Isn't she just as vulnerable as we are?" asked Ed. Orion nodded.

"Even more so, since you, Scorpio, protect yourself by lashing out, and Cancer protects himself by withdrawing into himself. Pisces has no protection whatsoever." He paused for a second, and then added, "You need to protect her, if you want to defeat Aries."

That surprised Ed. He hadn't expected such a huge responsibility to be laid upon him, especially since the person he was supposed to protect had always seemed to be a tower of strength to him. She had even restored them to their normal bodies. What did she need protection from?

"The fire signs can overwhelm her psychic senses to force her into submission," said Orion, as though reading his thoughts.

Ed jumped. "Are you psychic too?"

Orion laughed. "Scorpio, you ask that in every incarnation. No, I am not psychic. I'm just familiar with the questions you always ask me or the others, since you always choose to hide behind that other identity, and therefore need to constantly re-learn the same things."

Ed put his hands on his hips. Orion quickly spoke up. "I never said you were stupid for doing that. Heh, you take offense at that in every incarnation too. You apparently need to hide, being a water sign, and I honestly can't figure out why Pisces doesn't do it herself."

Ed relaxed his hands and his arms fell back to his sides. He sighed. "This dual identity of mine is getting pretty annoying, actually."

He moved to go sit down in a chair near Orion, so that he could see him without standing over him. "Now, tell me, how am I supposed to protect Pisces?"

Orion shook his head. "I'm the wrong person to ask, Scorpio. I'm not one of the signs. Why don't you go and ask Sagittarius? She's here too, and she's even a fire sign, so she could tell you a lot of useful information."

"She's not loyal to Aries, is she?"

"No, she's not loyal to Aries. She's not loyal to anybody. All she wants to do is have fun, so she'll go with whoever can promise her a good time."

"Heh, so she's just looked for adventure, huh?" Edward chuckled. "I suppose that shooting me in the back with her arrow was her idea of a good time."

"Well, hey, she doesn't get to do that every day," Orion joked. Ed gave him a playful punch. Orion looked directly into Ed's eyes, and said, "You know, this is the first time that the two of us have been so social. I really like this."

Ed smiled and stood up. "Maybe we could catch up later; though I can't really I'd be that interesting to talk to, since I don't remember my past. I'm going to go talk with Sagittarius before she leaves."

"I would like that," said Orion. "It's nice to be able to sit down and talk with Scorpio for once. I'd never dared to hope that that would ever happen."

Ed chuckled, and then went in search of Sagittarius. He found her sitting in the living room, tending to her bowstring. She must've gotten a little over-excited when she shot Ed, and damaged her bow.

Ed stepped into the room and light-heartedly said, "You're not planning on shooting me again, are you?"

She looked up in surprise. She hadn't heard him come into the room. After seeing who it was, she let out a huge laugh. "Hey, I might if I feel like it."

Edward chuckled and sat down across from her. "Listen, Sagittarius, I need to asked you something. Are you…"

"Why should I tell you?" she interrupted. Edward was a little taken aback, but he just brushed her behavior aside. Fire signs often come across to water signs as being rude, so Ed was trying to keep that in mind as he talked to her.

"It's to help someone…well, actually, to help a lot of people," Edward answered.

Sagittarius huffed. "What's in it for me?"

Hmmm, Edward thought, so that was the way she worked? Okay, he could handle that. "I'll be your opponent in the game of your choice if you give me the information I need."

She smiled and set down her bow. "Very well, Scorpio, I'll accept that. What do you want to know?"

"Well, before I ask you what I want to ask, I first need to ask whether or not you're loyal to Aries."

Sagittarius threw her head back and laughed. "That old hag? I'm surprised that any of the signs are still loyal to her. I'm not loyal to anyone; I just do as I please."

Edward rubbed his forehead while he muttered, "That's good, I guess." Then, putting his hand in his lap and looking into her eyes, he said, "I need to know how to protect Pisces from Aries, and…you know, other fire signs."

Sagittarius chuckled. "Duh, you should already know what needs to be done in that case, Scorpio. Water and fire don't mix. A fire sign can't focus on attacking Pisces if you're there, since you're a fighter by nature. Just convert to your watery form and attack, that's all there is to it."

"Really? That's all I have to do to protect Pisces?"

Sagittarius gave the boy a you're-so-stupid look and said, "That's all there is to protecting Pisces from Aries, but you could still have trouble from the earth signs."

"How so?"

"Well, you know how slow you water signs are right now? Earth signs are even slower. If one of them in their elemental form mixes with you in your elemental form, you'll be incredibly slow and vulnerable. Water signs don't function well as a puddle of mud."

Edward thought about that for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, I guess you're right. That would pose a problem. What about the air signs? Are they a threat too?"

Sagittarius threw back her head and laughed again. "Man, are you dumb. Of course they're a threat!"

Ed clenched his fist and then released it. No, Scorpio, don't lash out, he thought to himself. I need to just hear her out. "How are they a threat?"

"Air signs can perform all the feats that normal air does. If they were to blow a freezing wind on your water signs, you'd freeze into a solid block of ice, and they'd have you captured."

"Wow," Ed mused, "I didn't realize that they could pose such a threat. We need a fire sign to take along." He eyed Sagittarius with a mischievous grin on his face.

"What, you want ME to follow you on your little quest?"

"Why not? It would be an adventure, after all."

She rocked her head back and forth a couple times. "Well, I guess that you've got me pretty much figured out. I'll go along with you as long as it's still fun. If it gets boring, I'm out of there."

"I don't think it'll get boring," Ed chuckled nervously, thinking about all the possibly bad things that would probably happen.

Just then, Winry walked into the room. She had her head down, looking at the floor. "Um, Ed, could I see you a minute?" she asked nervously.

Edward stood up and walked towards her. "Sure, where would you like to talk?"

"Let's go outside," she said.

The two stepped outside. It was still nighttime, and the stars still shone brightly. Ed and Winry stared up at them for a few moments before saying anything. Edward smiled when he saw the constellation of Orion. He was actually starting to like that guy.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Ed.

Winry blushed. "Oh…it's…it's not really important…it's just that…well, you'll be leaving soon…and…well…I, uh, really liked that kiss you gave me earlier…and, uh…"

"Say no more," said Ed. He lifted her chin to look into her eyes, and the he pressed his lips to hers. The troubles of the world could wait a few minutes more.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Yeah, another chappie! (Oh what the heck, you guys are always saying "chappie", so I figured that I might as well give in and say it. There, I finally said it. So there!)_**

**_I never expected there to be so much romance in this story. I'm not the type of person who can actually deliberatly write romance into a story. It has to write itself into the story, or it won't come out right. (I'm not a very romantic person, in case you were wondering.) What I'd like to know is why is so much romance writing itself into this story? Go figure. I have no clue, but enjoy it while it lasts. Heh._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I own a new digital voice recorder though, as some of you already know. It's letting me get my chapters written up faster! Yeah!_**

Winry wrapped her arms tightly around Edward's waist, and leaned her head against his chest.

"Edward," she said, "You used to sing to me when we were little. I've missed your voice. Could you sing something to me now?"

Edward smiled. "What would you like me to sing?" he said as he stroked her hair.

"I don't really care," said Winry. "Are you still able to make things up on the spot?"

"Sure," he said, "I can still make things up on the spot."

"Then why don't you do that?" said Winry, pressing her face even deeper into Ed's chest. He stroked her hair even more as he began his song.

_There is something about the way that you smile._

_It's been there on your face for quite awhile._

_It makes you look so pure, in you there is no guile._

_There's just something about the way that you smile._

_There is something about the way that you sigh._

_It makes you look so sad, like you're trying to say goodbye._

_When our ways both part, I know that you will cry,_

_Because there's something about the way that you cry._

_What is this feeling? Is this what they call love?_

_Yet how is that possible, when you're from here, I'm from above?_

_You could never look more beautiful_

_To me than you now are._

_When you wished for my love now,_

_You wished upon a star._

_There is something about the look in your eyes._

_If I look deep enough, I could see the moon rise._

_And those orbs are the reflection of the starry skies._

_Yes, there is something about the look in your eyes._

_What is this feeling? Is this what they call love?_

_Yet how is that possible, when you're from here, I'm from above?_

_You could never look more beautiful_

_To me than you now are._

_When you wished for my love now,_

_You wished upon a star._

After Edward had finished his song, he continued to stroke Winry's hair. Winry was crying silent tears into his chest. "That was beautiful, Edward, thank you," she said.

"I'm glad you liked it," said Edward.

"I'm going to miss you when you're gone," said Winry.

"I'm going to miss you too."

Just then, Sagittarius stepped out, and saw the two with their arms around each other. "I'm sorry to interrupt such a personal moment," said Sagittarius, "But there is someone that I think you'd like to meet in the house."

"Who is it?" said Edward. Ed and Winry both looked up at Sagittarius.

"He says his name is Colonel Roy Mustang."

"WHAT?" said Edward, "What is he doing here?"

"I didn't bother to ask," said Sagittarius, "But I thought you'd want to know about it."

Edward looked apologetically at Winry. She smiled understandingly. "I'll go with you," said Winry. Both of them turned and went back into the house.

When they got into the house, Edward saw Colonel Mustang standing and talking to Pinako.

"Colonel! What are you doing here?" asked Edward.

"Fullmetal! Thank goodness, you're alright!"

"Well, why wouldn't I be?"

"Envy tricked you into going on this mission, Fullmetal," said Roy, "So I was concerned that you would kill yourself. The Zodiac People are not our enemies."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, Colonel," said Edward, "I figured that out myself."

"Did you also figure out that you were one of them?" asked Colonel Roy Mustang.

Edward jumped back. "You mean you knew all along and you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't tell you, FullMetal, because I thought that your father would have told you something that important, but apparently I was wrong."

"But how did you know when we didn't even know?" asked Edward.

"I knew your father. Because of my association with him, I learned how to recognize certain traits, which I saw in you and your brother."

"So our father IS the parent that is the member of the zodiac!" said Edward. "Man, I hate him. Why didn't he ever tell us? Did you ever find out which sign he was?"

"Um, I can't really remember," said Roy Mustang, "Do you happen to know when his birthday is?"

Edward thought for a moment. "His birthday is…May 15th." He smacked his forehead. "That's Taurus!"

Pisces looked up from her sitting position in a chair nearby. "Taurus? Taurus is your father?"

Ed looked over at her. "Yeah, why? What about him?"

"Well, it just happens to be that Taurus is one of the few who oppose Aries."

Ed sighed and rubbed his head. "Like we really need him as an ally."

"Well, maybe he could be some assistance to us. He's an earth sign, after all."

"If you want his help, fine. You talk to him yourself. I'm not going anywhere near him," said Edward.

"Help?" said Colonel Mustang, "What do you need help with?"

"We have to defeat Aries," said Edward. "She's mad with power and she wants to take over the land, but she can only do that if she gets all twelve signs to unite. Of course, I have no plans of allowing that to happen. It'll take all three of us water signs in order to defeat her."

"So that means that you're going to the circle then…right?" asked Colonel Mustang.

"Yeah…right," said Edward.

"I'm coming with you," said Mustang.

"WHAT? Why would you want to come with us? You're just going to slow us down!"

"Don't talk to your superior that way!"

Edward sighed. "I'm sorry, sir, but this has nothing to do with you."

"This has everything to do with me, Fullmetal. I'm responsible for your safety."

"But you can't help me in this battle. This is a battle between the signs. I can't let a human get involved," said Edward

"I'm still coming with you," said Mustang. "I may be human, but I am also an alchemist and your superior officer. I could possibly be of some assistance."

Edward sighed and shook his head. "Do what you want, but I'm not responsible for what happens to you."

"In that case, I'm coming too."

Edward spun around. "Winry, you can't come!"

"Why not?" said Winry, "He's going!"

"But he's a member of the military, and an alchemist! You would be completely defenseless!"

With that, Edward started coughing and sputtering. "Brother!" cried Al, rushing over to try and see what was wrong.

"I'm fine, Al, don't worry about me."

Pisces stood up and walked over to him. Upon examining him, she said, "There's nothing wrong with him. He's just suffering the effects of the Scorpio month."

"You mean he's getting weaker?" said Winry. Pisces nodded. "That settles it! I'm coming with you!"

"Don't come with me!" said Edward. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And I don't want anything to happen to YOU," said Winry. "I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not."

Ed wanted to protest, but since he was coughing and sputtering so much, he couldn't get a word out. It looked like he lost the argument.

Soon, everyone started getting ready to bed down for the night. Al and Ed told Orion and Roy that they could have their room. When asked why, they just shook their heads and said, "Just because." Roy wanted to question further, but the boys just walked off without saying a word. So, he shrugged his shoulders and made his way into the boys' bedroom.

Soon afterward, everyone was asleep, except for Winry, who was worrying way too much to get to sleep. So, she decided to get up and go and splash some cold water on her face, or something, to try and get herself to stop worrying. She made her way to the bathroom, and found Al, sleeping, leaning against the closed bathroom door.

She shook him awake. "Al, what are you doing here?"

He woke up, startled. "Oh, Winry!" He caught her questioning glance, and then sighed, and answered, "Brother is too weak to sleep in his human form anymore, so he ran himself some bath water and is sleeping in the bathtub in his elemental form. I'm just stationed outside to make sure that no one accidentally walks in on him, since that could be kind of embarrassing."

"Poor Ed," said Winry, "Why doesn't he let on that he's getting so weak to the rest of us?"

"It embarrasses him. He feels ashamed of it," said Al. "He doesn't like the idea of being weak."

"Well, I understand that," said Winry, "But he shouldn't worry about US. He doesn't have to hide from US."

"We're talking about Scorpio here," said Al. "He's a water sign. All water signs are vulnerable like that."

"Are you that vulnerable?" asked Winry.

Al nodded. "Yeah, I'm just as vulnerable as he is. It's just that it's not my month, so I'm not in a weak state like he is right now."

Winry sat down next to him. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," said Al, "It's just our nature. There's nothing shameful about it. It's just part of who we are."

Winry smiled a weak little smile, and tried to relax in her sitting position. "Is it okay if I sit here and guard him with you?" said Winry. "I can't sleep anyway."

Al chuckled. "Sure, that's okay. I don't think Brother will mind any."

Winry chuckled too. "No, I don't think he'll mind any." She wondered what Al would say if he knew about everything going on between her and Ed. The two of them continued to talk back and forth until they both finally managed to fall asleep.

When morning came, Edward was the first one to wake up. He opened the bathroom door and was surprised to find not just Al, but Winry sleeping there as well. What the heck was she doing here?

Ed gently shook her awake. "Winry, what are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you, Ed," she said as she sleepily rubbed her eyes.

"You needn't have been," he said, "I was only sleeping."

"In your elemental form, yes," said Winry.

"And what's so wrong with that?" asked Ed.

"It's simply the fact that you can't sleep in your human form if you want to. The effects of the Scorpio month are making you weaker, Ed, whether you want to admit it or not. How can I help but worry about you?"

Edward sighed and grasped Winry's hand. "I appreciate your concern for me, I really do, but I'm fine. I just don't want to have to be worrying about you all the time. That's why I don't want you to come."

"But if I don't come, I'LL be the one worrying all the time."

"You don't need to worry so much about me," said Ed, "The signs of the zodiac aren't that easy to kill."

"But they can be killed, still!" said Winry.

"So can human beings, and even more easily," said Ed. "That's why I don't want you to come."

Winry started to cry as she threw her arms around Ed and sobbed. "Oh, Ed, don't ask me to leave you, please! I can't stand the thought of being separated from you!"

Ed was a bit taken aback. He didn't know what to say. He knew one thing for sure though: He had been beaten. He was not going to be able to win against her will. He sighed. "Fine, if it means so much to you, you can come along, but PLEASE be careful."

She cried a happy cry and pulled her arms even tighter around Ed. "Thank you, Ed, thank you!"

Edward sighed. What had he just done? Was it wise to allow Winry to come along with him? Had he just signed her death sentence? He didn't know what the future held, but he knew one thing for sure: He was not going to let anything happen to Winry.

**_Heh, yeah, I have the tendency to always make Ed sing in my fics. I just love doing that, and I have no idea why. I hope that some of you like it too. Most people don't comment on that, but oh well, I keep doing it anyway, hehe. It gives me a good excuse to use my songs. Otherwise, I just look like a crazy, freaky, fangirl, writing songs for FullMetal Alchemist. Hehehehe...This is actually the first song I've written specifically for, and based on, one of my stories. I tend to like to make Ed play the guitar a lot too. Why, I don't know. I just do. Hehe_**

**_Anyway, hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please review, and I'll update sooner!_**


	12. Chapter 12

**_Yes, I finally got this typed up! Phew! I've even got the next chapter written up as well, though not typed up yet. Why am I actually a tiny bit ahead of you for once, you ask? Simply because the ending is now in sight. The story's got a few chapters left in it, but it'll probably end soon. Don't let that worry you though. There's a lot more stories floating around in this thing called my brain where this one came from, and many of them are equally weird. You'll never fail to be entertained if you keep up with my stories. Heh. Hey, actually following through and finishing stories is what you want me to do, right? So, whatever you do, don't complain when I do so! hehe_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. I'm being lazy right now, and don't want to spell the whole thing out, even though I have enough energy to type out all these words explaining that I'm too lazy to spell out the whole name. Go figure._**

Back at the circle, Aries was giving orders to the remaining signs. "The Fullmetal boy is on his way here. We mustn't allow him to get here before his weakest time, so I want you, Gemini, Libra, Virgo, and Capricorn, to go and slow him down. Keep him from getting here until he is at his weakest point."

"How will we know when he is at his weakest point?" asked Virgo.

"When he is weakest," said Aries, "Is when he cannot return to his human form, no matter what he tries."

"And...That's going to happen on his birthday, right?" asked Libra.

"Right," answered Aries, "When he is weakest, then we will go full force and capture him. But until then, I just want you to slow his progress so that he can't get here in time."

The four nodded, stood up, and then converted to their elemental forms. The air signs flew away, and the earth signs traveled by way of earthquake.

Aries turned to Taurus, who had been standing there the whole time, not saying a word. "Well?" she said, "Will you help me now?"

Taurus shook his head no, and said, "I'm never going to help you, Aries."

"Suit yourself;" said Aries, "You'll join me when I have the rest of them united." Taurus shrugged and walked away, without saying anything. Aries turned to him. "Are you telling me you actually care for that boy of yours?"

"I am his father, and he is my son. What's not to care about?" he said.

Aries laughed. "What are you worrying so much about, anyway? They're signs of the Zodiac, not human beings. They're not going to be as fragile and useless as your wife was. I have no plans on killing them."

"Scorpio is a stronger fighter than you realize," said Taurus, a.k.a. Hohenheim, "You might think differently once you actually meet him." With that, he turned and walked away; leaving Aries wondering what the heck he was talking about.

Back on the trail, everyone was getting a little bit worried. Edward was getting weaker and weaker each day, and having a harder and harder time maintaining his human form. He had to stop and catch his breath every few minutes. How was he supposed to fight Aries in this condition, especially since he was to get weaker each day?

"Edward," said Winry with tears in her eyes, "You can't fight in this condition! Wait until you get stronger."

"I can't wait," said Edward, "She's going to attack on my birthday if I don't get there before then, and that's when I'll be the weakest. I have no choice but to try and get there as soon as possible."

"But you're too weak to fight," she complained.

"No, I'm not," he said, "I don't think she has any intentions of killing me. She needs me too badly. All I have to do is stop her, somehow."

"But there's the same problem. How do you do that? How are you planning to do that when you're so weak?"

Edward just shrugged. "I don't know. I'll find a way when I get there."

"Oh, Edward," she said with a note of frustration in her voice while grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. He converted slightly into his watery form while she shook him, which made her jerk her hands back in fright. "You're so weak that you convert even when I touch you."

"I'm FINE, Winry," he said. "I'm not going to die just because I keep converting to my elemental form. Now come on," he said, standing up and pushing himself again, "Let's get going."

"Geez," she said, slumping and falling into step beside him. "I sure wish you'd plan things better."

Just then, an intense and very cold wind came upon them out of nowhere. Edward reacted by automatically converting to his elemental form. The winds then focused on him intently with their freezing cold breeze.

"Brother, don't convert!" shouted Al.

"I...can't...help...it!" said Ed, trying to speak though he was starting to get frozen. One could even see the ice crystals starting to form in his body.

Winry sent a pleading look to Sagittarius, who just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Okay, fine, fine, I'll handle it." She converted to her fiery form, and leapt to the center of the action, completely engulfing Ed in her flames. The winds quickly dissipated, since air feeds fire, and fire consumes air.

Then Ed, still in his elemental form, threw himself out of the flames. He quickly returned to his human form and was gasping and moaning, like he was in pain. He probably would have been, considering that he had just been engulfed in Sagittarius's flames.

When he caught his breath, he stood up and moaned, rubbing his arms. "Thanks," he said, "I think." Sagittarius laughed.

"You're welcome, weakling," she said. He glared at her and clenched and unclenched his fist. No, he wasn't going to lash out at her. Fire feeds fire, after all. If he took on a fiery personality trait, as was common to him, then she would just reply back with the same stuff.

Ed turned and looked back up the road that they were traveling on. "If those were the air signs," he said, "Then the earth signs are probably on their way. Come on, everybody, we need to hurry up. We don't have a lot of time. We have less time than I thought."

Everyone sighed and fell into step behind him. What was going to happen? He was too weak for this mission, couldn't he see that? What was going to happen? There was no way to know, as he kept pushing them onward. The only way to find out was to wait and see what happened for themselves. They knew one thing though; Ed was going to get weaker and weaker each day until his birthday, and Aries was going to see to it that he got as weak as possible before she attacked. They weren't particularly keen on taking Ed to the fight, but they didn't have a lot of choice, because Aries was going to attack him regardless. He needed their support and help right now. Whatever happened, they would be there for him.

**_Hope you liked that chapter. Yeah, it was shorter than I expected it would be. I'll upload the next chapter soon, once I get it typed up. Make sure that you give me lots of reviews though, or I'll hold it off longer. I've been known to do that. Heh._**


	13. Chapter 13

**_Okay, here's another chapter. Hope you like it. I'm just guessing here, since I don't really know what's going to happen between now and the conclusion of the story, but I think that there are two chapters left, after this one. I'm just telling you now so that you don't all try to clobber me for not warning you about the ending approaching, hehe._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. Can I pretend that I do? Sure, let's pretend that I do, just remember that I'm not the real owner. (Ed doesn't have to know though. I have too much fun making him think I own him. Heh.)_**

Edward was growing progressively weaker with each passing day. He kept trying to hide it, but he no longer could. Everyone in his party could tell just how weak he was now.

The ground began to shake beneath their feet. Edward was moving back and forth between his human and watery forms, since he had no control in the midst of an earthquake.

Everyone had fallen to their hands and knees by now. They had no idea what to do. They couldn't just stand by and do nothing though, as Edward was so weak, but what could they do?

The ground erupted, and two shapeless masses of rock and soil burst from the ground. They lunged at Edward, who put up his watery hands as if that would help to protect him from the attack.

The two earth people entered Edward's body without much difficulty, and caused their earthy bodies to mix with Edward's watery one. Needless to say, Edward couldn't budge. That much earth combined with that little water makes for very thick mud, and he couldn't move a muscle.

Everyone could hear Ed growling like he was applying all his force into something. He was obviously trying to regain control over his own body, without much success. What could he do? It was two against one, and the one was in his weakest state. If only this mud weren't so thick, maybe he could do something about it.

Pisces shot a glance at Al. Al returned her glance and nodded. They both converted to their watery forms and lunged at the mass of mud before them, mixing with it themselves.

The mud thinned out, and Edward finally got a little control back, but he was still too weak to escape. He felt like crying for a brief moment, but quickly decided against it. If nothing else, he could at least be strong in that way.

Edward sighed to himself. He'd been trying to deny it, but he really was weak, and needed help right now to get out of this situation. If he were to continue struggling, he'd probably actually hinder more than help those who were trying to help him. He relaxed himself completely, and just rode with the currents. He was just going to have to let happen whatever was to happen.

The two water signs at the two earth signs thrashed and fought for several minutes, both trying to get control over Ed. Finally, the earth signs just let go, and left. They had done what they had set out to do, so they didn't need to stay longer.

Al and Pisces carefully dragged Ed out of the mass as he struggled to regain his human form. It took him a few minutes, but he finally succeeded. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At least he was alright.

Winry stepped up to him, and extended her hand to help pull him up. He sighed and took her hand, since he seriously could use the help. Why did he have to be so weak, anyway?

"Is there a reason that I'm getting this weak?" asked Ed as he stood up. "I know that all the signs go through a point of weakness, but do they get hit this hard?"

"Well," said Sagittarius, "The full moon hits on your birthday this year, and it'll be in Scorpio at that time, so that would made a pretty big difference."

Ed sighed. "That may be, but doesn't that happen fairly often? I don't see any other signs having to deal with this."

Winry pulled a small planner out of her pocket and flipped to Ed's birthday. She had written down a lot of astrological information just before they had set out on their journey, since she figured that knowing ahead of time what forces were at work might just work to their advantage. She gasped and looked up.

"What's the matter, Win?" asked Ed.

"There's a lunar eclipse on your birthday," she said.

Everyone was star struck for a moment. "But…how could he possibly still be retaining his human form then?" asked Sagittarius, "None of the other signs can still hold their forms within a few days of an eclipse."

Winry closed her book. "Ed is strong. I know. I was his auto-mail mechanic." Edward chuckled, but didn't say anything. Everyone continued to sit and stare in silence.

"So…" Al ventured, "Do you think that Aries deliberately planned this because of the unusual forces at work?"

"Probably," said Pisces, "Everyone knows that the water signs are her only threat, particularly Scorpio. She's probably been planning this for years, considering how opportune a time it is for her, with Scorpio being so weak."

Ed stood up and took a determined stance. "In that case, we need to get going. We've got to get to the circle while I still have some of the strength left."

"Wait, Izumi-san," said Winry, "Can't you just carry the three of them to the circle? That way, they'd get there while Ed still had some strength."

"Technically, I COULD carry them," said Izumi, "But it would be unwise to do so. This being the Scorpio month, he needs the help of everyone in this group, and I can't carry anyone but them."

Winry sighed. She understood, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "Well, in that case, what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!" Everyone shook their heads. They could have almost sworn that she was the female version of Ed right then. They picked up their pace and walked on.

The next few days were quite rough. Ed was growing weaker each day, and was having more and more difficulty staying in his human form. One couldn't help but feel sorry for him, but he would just shrug it off as if it were nothing, and keep pushing on. They should have arrived at the circle long before this point, but those under Aries kept attacking and slowing them down.

Finally, it was his birthday. They were almost to the circle as well. Ed knew that one way or the other, he'd end up at the circle today. He just hoped that it was the "one way" and not "the other".

He tried to sit up, but didn't feel right. He then realized that he was in his watery form. He half-chuckled to himself. No wonder he couldn't sit up properly, water doesn't "sit". He tried to convert back to his human form, but failed in the attempt. He tried again…and again. He just couldn't return to his human form.

So, this was it…his weakest day. The day when he couldn't even retain his human form. The best he could do was to pull himself into a human-shaped mass of water, which he did for the sake of everyone else, though it was more to keep his own sanity intact than for them.

Just then, the wind picked up suddenly. Great. He had to have an attack from the wind signs when he was weakest. Just great.

There was no way that he could defend himself, and it happened too quickly for anyone else to intervene. The two wind signs swooped down and froze Ed into a block of ice, followed by an earthquake from the earth signs, which caused the ground to split open and swallow him up.

"Ed! No!" cried Winry, trying to run over the shaking earth without stumbling, which was quite a feat.

Pisces put a hand on Winry's shoulder. "Aries won't hurt him. She needs him. He's just been taken to the circle. If we hurry, we may be able to catch up with him."

Winry grabbed Pisces' hand and started running. "Come one, let's hurry up and get there!"

"Uh, Winry," said Pisces, dragging her feet, "I understand your intense desire to get there quickly, but the circle is that way." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder so that it pointed behind her back.

Winry blushed for a second, but didn't wait for the feeling to go away before grabbing Pisces' hand again and saying, "Come on, there's no time to lose!" Pisces sighed. She didn't know what was going to happen, but Winry knew even less than Pisces. Would Winry even be able to handle what she saw when she got to the circle? She hoped that Winry was a strong-minded and she sounded. She was going to need to be once she got there.

**_Did you like the chapter? I hope so. Please leave me a review, and I'll be happy to update quick. I've already got a partial chapter written up for the next one. If you give me a lot of reviews, I'll post it really quick. Touka Koukan, remember?_**


	14. Chapter 14

**_I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this story! My life has been kind of hectic the past few days, so I haven't been on much lately. I'm so sorry about that. I'll try to post the last chapter tomorrow, since I know that you guys will kill me if I don't update soon, but that'll depend on me finishing that last chapter. Hope that I can do that by tomorrow. Ugh. Heh. Yeah, I'll try._**

**_Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter._**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. Hmmm...I can't think of a witty remark to say this time...how about a random one? My brother has purple triangles coming out of his nose. Random enough for you?_**

Ed woke up to find himself in a clearing in the forest. He was laying in the middle of a circular design made of rocks carved into square and rectangular shapes. On the edge of this circular design were the names of all twelve members of the zodiac. This must've been the circle.

"So, you're finally awake, Scorpio, are you?" asked a woman from somewhere behind him. Ed turned and looked. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Aries. How dare she force him here against his will. He was not going to cooperate with her, no matter what she tried to pull.

"Why did you even bother to bring me here?" he said, "You know very well that I won't cooperate with anything you try to do."

"I admire your persistence," said Aries. "You could actually be quite a help to me in my ruling of the land. You could be my right hand man, perhaps even the king. I would let you if you would help me out."

"Never!" shouted Ed, trying to stand up, only to fall back into a puddle of himself. Either being at the circle made him unusually weak, or the eclipse was nearly upon him. Maybe it was both.

"Really?" said Aries, "Well, that's too bad. We actually have one member from each element here at the circle now, and so it would be quite easy to go and round up all the rest of the signs. With your help, this could be quite effortless."

"I will never help you, Aries," Edward mumbled under his breath.

"Suit yourself," shrugged Aries, and walked off. "We'll have them rounded up soon enough anyway, and you won't get any reward, because you didn't help me."

Edward groaned. He couldn't move. None of the other signs were slowing him down right now, he was just left to himself. But he was so weak that there was nothing he could do but just lie there. "Al, Winry," he called with as much strength as he could muster, "Please be safe."

Winry ran as fast as she could, dragging Pisces behind her. "Slow down, Winry!" called Pisces, "I'm only a water sign, I can't move that fast."

"But we have no time to waste!" cried Winry.

"But you can't just run in on Aries without making a plan first," said Pisces.

"But what can we do?" asked Winry.

Al finally managed to catch up with them, and he was panting hard. "I remember when Envy had tricked Brother into coming on this mission, he had said that if one member of each of the elements were to get together, they would be a force to be reckoned with. We have four of the zodiac signs here, maybe that could help somewhat."

"True," said Pisces, "But we don't have an earth sign. We have two water signs, an air sign, and a fire sign, but not an earth sign."

"I think I can help with that," said a voice coming from a few yards over. Everyone turned and looked. It was Hohenheim. He had managed to find them.

"Who are you?" Al said, looking at Hohenheim.

Hohenheim looked at him, and smiled. "Alphonse? Is it really you? Long time no see. My, have you grown!"

Al looked confused. He hadn't a clue who this guy was. He'd never seen him before. Noticing this, Hohenheim explained, "I'm your father, Alphonse."

"F-Father?" asked Al, a bit timidly. Hohenheim just smiled some more. Al burst into a run, and ran to hug his father.

"I always knew you'd come back for us, I just knew it!" he cried.

Hohenheim just smiled, and pulled Al away from him to look into his eyes. "Where is Edward? He's in trouble, isn't he?"

Al nodded. "He's in BIG trouble."

"Well, we need to hurry and get to the circle then," said Hohenheim. "He needs our help badly. There are a lot of forces working against your brother right now. Aries specifically planned it that way." They picked up the pace, and ran in the direction that Hohenheim and Pisces led.

It didn't take them long to get to the circle. It really wasn't far from where they were. When they got there, they saw Aries standing over a puddle of water, which they assumed to be Ed, two men which they assumed to be the earth signs, two women which they assumed to be the air signs, and Leo. Aries spun around when she heard them gawking.

"So, you've come to make my job easier, have you? Thank you very much, it saves me the trouble of going out and actually bringing you all in. Now, if you would be so kind as to take your positions along the circle, things will be better for everyone involved."

Sagittarius put her hand to her chin. She looked like she was trying to decide which side would be more fun to join.

"Leave Brother alone!" shouted Al.

Aries just smirked at him, and said, "I don't think so, Cancer."

Al cringed. He wasn't used to being called by his zodiac name. Aries made a hand signal that sent all the signs under her control lunging for the signs in the party that had accompanied Ed. Aries personally lunged at Al, which was a big mistake on her part, because it finally gave Ed enough ambition to pick himself up, and lunge at her.

"No one touches my little brother!" shouted Ed. Aries spun and thrust her hand through Ed's watery form, since he couldn't return to his human form, even if he wanted to.

"And just what are you going to do about it, Scorpio, you weakling?"

Ed picked himself back up, and rushed at her again. There may not be much that he could do, but he sure as heck wasn't going to let anything happen to Al. Al or Winry. Anyone who even thought of harming them was going to pay, and pay dearly.

Ed was desperate to come up with something to do. Anything that would deter her. Then he remembered a time when he had battled with Sloth, and she had converted into her watery form. Wait, she had converted into a watery form? Maybe that was why she was watery...because they themselves were. Strange that they had never picked up on that before.

Anyway, her watery form was just as lethal, if not moreso, as her human form. Maybe he could use his watery form to his advantage in the same way. He started throwing punches at Aries in the same way that Sloth had done previously to him in her watery form. Aries was actually stepping away from him to avoid his punches. Yes, this was effective indeed. Maybe he could win like this.

Just then, she jumped aside, clapped her hands together, and touched them to the ground. The earth shook beneath their feet. She had performed a transmutation without a circle? When had she seen the Gate? Even the signs of the zodiac were bound by those same laws of alchemy as everyone else was.

Aries stood back up. A slight breeze rushed at her veil, and pulled it up. Edward gasped. He could not believe who that person was. It was Dante.

No one else had seen the face under the veil, but they saw Ed's reaction to it. They gathered that it must've been somebody they knew. "Ed! Be careful!" shouted Winry.

"Fullmetal, don't let her beat you! Fight her!" shouted Roy.

No one knew what to do or say. They could only stand from the sidelines, and try to cheer Ed on. Finally, Ed got his determination back. He was so angry about the way that Aries had treated all of them, and manipulated all of them. He would get his revenge, one way or the other.

He clapped his hands together and slapped them to the ground. A spear formed out of the ground, which he picked up and quickly hurled at Aries. It didn't effect her much though, because she simply turned into her fiery form, and it passed right through her. She returned to her human form, and chuckled. "You're stronger than I thought you'd be on this day, Scorpio, I'll give you that much. But is that the best you can do? If so, then you really don't have much of a chance against me."

He had gotten her to turn into her fiery form. Maybe that was the ticket. If he could attack in his watery form while she was in her fiery form, maybe he could defeat her. He was going to have to trick her into converting again.

He quickly grabbed some stones that were nearby and hurled them at her. He couldn't pick up anything very heavy, since he was so weak on this day, but those stones could certainly cause a lot of damage if they were to hit her in her human form. Sure enough, she converted into her fiery form to let them pass through. This was his chance.

He clapped his hands together, but she saw what he was doing, and quickly converted back to her human form. It looked like that wasn't going to work. He was going to have to try something else.

He reached down and grabbeda handful of dirt. He wasn't sure what to do with it, but he was hoping that maybe it could at least give him an idea. Before he was able to come up with anything, however, Aries converted into her fiery form and rushed at him, causing him severe damage.

He didn't care about the pain just then, she was still in her fiery form, so now was the time to act. He clapped his hands together, and then he thrust his arms inside of Aries' body. She had apparently done the same, for her arms were thrust inside of his body. The pain was immense, for fire and water do not mix.

Ed focused his energy on her, thrusting as much of his watery form into her as he could. She did the same to him. Ed felt the pressure building up in his body, but he had to persist. He had to save Al and Winry, and all the rest of those that he loved. He was NOT going to let them come under the rule of Aries!

He pressed harder. Aries pressed harder on him. The pressure increased. He ignored it. They remained in that stance for several seconds, several very long, intense seconds. They continued to increase the pressure that they were forcing on each other.

After what seemed like en eternity, an explosion occured. No one could see anything for about a minute or two, but when the smoke cleared, they saw nothing but two burn spots where Aries and Ed once were. Winry and Al shreiked and ran over to the spot. "Ed!" shouted Winry, "Ed! No, no, no!" She started to pull her hair out.

Al wasn't saying anything. He was just crying. Roy walked over to the spot, and said, "This...can't be! This just...This just can't be! Fullmetal was too strong!"

"Is he really...?" began Sagittarius, but she was interrupted by a small rain shower that suddenly occured. It was water mixed with ash. Neither one of them would have allowed the other to infiltrate their body like that. That only meant one thing.

"No!" screamed Winry, "No! Ed can't be dead! He can't!" Al was sobbing pitifully. No one knew what to do, or say. Al and Winry kept pawing at the ground, as if that would bring Ed back, but nothing happened.

The ground was now wet with the ash-laden rain, but still no sign of Ed, or Aries for that matter. They were both gone.

Roy put his hand on Winry's and Al's shoulders. It looked like he was trying to blink back tears as he said, "Try not to cry over him, kids, he wouldn't want that. The forces were strongly against him, yet he managed to accomplish his mission and defeat Aries. He would want you to be happy about that."

That just caused everyone to cry even harder. Yes, Ed was strong. He had overcome insurmountable odds, and accomplished his mission. They couldn't have expected anything more, yet they had. Was it really too much to ask though that their best friend and brother live through the whole ordeal? They didn't think so.

They were sure that had he been able to, he would have chosen life over death. In a way, he had chosen life over death, but not his own. He had chosen their lives over his death. Tears were coming to the eyes of everyone around. Ed had indeed been a friend to all of them, and they all deeply cared for him. They were really going to miss him.

**_Please, please, don't kill me! I have one more chapter after this one, okay? I'll try to update tomorrow, so please be patient. Leave me a review anyway, as I need your comments. (Now you know why I don't allow anonymous reviews. These cliffhangers that I like to do would surely generate flames!)_**

**_Anyway, see you soon, on the next chapter!_**


	15. Chapter 15

**_Phew! This took forever to type! (It's a really LONG chapter! I can't believe I finally finished it!) I hope that this helps to resolve that cliffhanger nicely enough for you from the last chapter. Please enjoy this final conclusion to "The Zodiac People"._**

**_Disclaimer: I still don't own FullMetal Alchemist, nor will I ever own FullMetal Alchemist._**

"Edward Elric was a loving brother, a fighter for justice, and a friend to all," said Roy Mustang as he finished his speech. Everyone's eyes were teared up as they stood around the circle which contained the empty coffin in the center of it, since there were no remains of Edward's body.

Two people walked up to the coffin, and each picked up two corners of a flag that was draped over it. It was the Amestrian flag, of course. He had served his country well. They proceeded to carefully fold it into a triangular shape, and then they handed it to Al, being his only living relative left, besides Hohenheim. Al shed a few tears as he handed the flag to Winry to hold onto for a few minutes.

Al and several other people chosen to do the honors went and each placed a white flower on the coffin. They went back to their seats and listened as a trumpet player blew out "Taps" in respect to his brother's military service.

After everyone had had a good cry, they all went over to the grave that had been prepared just outside of the circle. They lowered the coffin into it, and reverently began to shovel the soil over it. So this was it. This was goodbye.

Winry cried a few tears, and then muttered, "Goodbye, Ed, I'll really miss you. I really loved you. I hope that you're happy in whatever afterlife you have, if signs have an afterlife. I hope you don't forget me."

Al placed a hand on her shoulder, and looked into her eyes. "Brother will never forget you, Winry. I could see the look in his eyes when he would look at you. He's not going to forget you anytime soon."

Winry smiled at Al and shed a few more tears. "I know, but it's still hard. I'm going to miss him so much."

"As will I," said Al, "As will I."

Several months passed since that sad day. It was summertime now. Orion was no longer in the sky, though the manifestation of him still came to visit from time to time. Winry waited every day to try and catch a glimpse of the constellation known as Scorpio, but something always ran amuck, and she wasn't able to do so.

Pisces had explained to her that it was because the signs of the zodiac actually partly control the effects of nature, and when they lost two of their number, it made it harder to keep storms and stuff in check. So, the nights were oftentimes cloudy, and she hadn't gotten a chance to see the constellation yet. Poor Ed, he hadn't even realized that he had been doing such an important job.

One night, Winry stepped outside of the house. It was finally a clear night sky. She breathed in the cool, clean air, and then took a look around. Scorpio shouldn't be that hard to find, it was a bright constellation. Yes, there it was, that beautiful constellation.

A tear rolled down her cheek. "If only you were here, Ed, I really miss you."

Winry felt a hand on her shoulder, and someone said, "I was hoping you would make the connection soon. The storms have been pretty bad lately, and you haven't been able to see the sky for some time."

Winry nodded without saying anything. She was too choked up. She really missed Ed and just wanted to be able to talk with him again. Just once.

The person behind her continued to speak. "I would have come earlier, but I couldn't until you made the connection first. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting and so sad like that."

Winry looked up. What the heck? What was he talking about? She turned to actually face the person who was talking to her and gasped. It was Ed.

"Ed! How...can you...w-what's going on...h-how...?"

Ed smiled for a second, and then chuckled. "Yes, before you ask, I did die, Winry, and I still am dead. They can kill Ed without much trouble, but they can't kill Scorpio that easily. As you can see, I'm still up there in the sky. I was able to come to you in spirit once you made the connection first."

Winry cast her eyes to the ground. "Oh...so...you're not Ed then."

"What?" shouted Ed, "Of course I'm Ed! What are you talking about?"

"But you just said that you were Scorpio, and that Ed died," said Winry.

Ed smacked his head. "Well...yeah...both of those are true...but...I'm also...Ed." Seeing the confused look on Winry's face, he proceeded to explain. "When one of the incarnations of one of the signs dies, the sign has the choice of whether to keep that mind or throw it out. Normally, I throw out the mind of the previous incarnation, because it's just extra baggage to carry into the next life. But the mind of Ed was just too precious to me. I couldn't just throw that mind out, so I kept it, and incorporated it into my own. Hence, Scorpio and Ed are no longer two separate minds. We are both combined into one now."

Winry started to cry and tried to throw her arms around Ed, only to realize that he was just spirit, and had no substance. "I'm sorry, Winry," Ed began. "I'm sorry I lost my physical body. I'm sorry I left you here alone like this. I'm just sorry."

More tears continued to roll down Winry's face. "No, don't be sorry," she said. "You did just what you had to do. You saved the entire country from being under the authority of Aries. You did nothing that was worth apologizing for. It just...it just required a greater sacrifice than either of us had imagined."

Ed and Winry stared at each other for several minutes, neither one saying a word. Finally, Winry spoke up. "Um...Can you...Are you able to...come into the house? I'm sure that everyone else would love to see you again."

Edward smiled and let out a slight chuckle. "Yes, of course I can. Now that you've made the connection by seeing me in the night sky, I can come to you in spirit anytime I want."

Winry smiled. "Good, come on then. You've been gone for some time, and we all want to see you." She waved her hand in the direction of the house, and started walking towards it. Ed just shrugged and followed. Winry was just as bossy to him whether he was living or dead.

"You sure look happy," said Pinako upon Winry's reentrance into the house. "I haven't seen you so happy in months. What's gotten into you?"

Winry giggled nervously. "We have a guest."

Al looked up from the book he was reading, and asked, "Really? Who is it?" Just then, Ed stepped into the room, and Al's jaw dropped. Pinako just stood there, smoking her pipe, so no one could tell just what her reaction really was.

Winry looked nervously from Ed to Al to her grandmother, waiting for a response. Al sat up straight, and looked at Ed. "Is that...B-Br...?" Winry and Ed nodded. "But how?" asked Al, "Isn't he dead?"

"Yes," said Ed, "I died, and I'm still dead. I'm simply coming to you in spirit. I'm finally able to do that, now that one of you has made the connection." He looked at Winry as he spoke. She blushed and smiled back.

Al was still a bit confused. "So...how did she make the connection?"

"By seeing my physical form in the night sky," answered Ed.

"That was all it took to get you to appear?" Ed nodded. Al smacked his head. "I wish I'd known that! I would have made the connection long ago had I known."

"I'm not sure if you can, Al," said Ed. "Being Cancer, you're already up in the night sky. It's like I've never been separated from you for a moment."

"But it still feels like we've been separated, Brother," said Al.

"I know," said Ed, "I know. It does sort of feel that way."

Ed, Al, Winry, and Pinako spent the next few hours just basically catching up with each other. A lot had happened in the last few months that Ed hadn't been around to observe. The remnant of the rebel force that had been under Aries fell apart just shortly after her death, and they no longer tried to take over the land. They actually oftentimes came to Al and Pisces for council, which was very strange, considering that Al was Cancer, and Pisces was, well, Pisces, and those two were not used to holding a leadership position.

So it had turned out that with the exception of Aries, none of the signs had actually been evil, they had just been following the wrong master, except for Sagittarius, who wasn't actually following anyone. She was just having fun.

Things were going fairly well for the country too. Roy had been promoted, and considering how well he kept handling these different situations that kept coming up during his term of service, the possibility of his becoming the Fuhrer one day was becoming a stronger possibility.

Ed cast his eyes down to the ground and cleared histhroat. Then he looked back up at Winry and the rest of the people, and said, "So, why didn't you come to my aid while I was fighting Aries?"

Everyone sighed and looked down at the ground. How could they answer that question? It was the question they feared answering themselves. The truth was that there had really been nothing they could have done, but they always assumed that they could have at least done something to help. They had merely been afraid of making things worse for him.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Ed," Winry began, "We...We..."

"...Would have gotten in my way?" finished Ed for her. Winry was shocked and looked up. Ed smiled. "Ihaven't lost my psychic abilities just because I died."

Winry stood in shock for a moment or two, and then muttered, "I-I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Ed, "Besides, there was absolutely nothing you could have done. This was not a battle between humans. This was a battle between the signs. You don't even know alchemy. There was no way you could have done anything."

She clenched her fists on her knees. "I probably got in your way just by insisting that I go on your journey," she said.

"No, you didn't," said Ed, "You didn't get in my way at all. If anything, you kept me going. Had it not been for you and Al there, I would never have gotten the strength to defeat Aries. After all, you were right. I was much too weak to defeat her. She had planned her attack well, but she had forgotten to take into account that I had some people I loved dearly enough to give my life for."

Winry averted her eyes and cried. She couldn't look at Ed, not just yet. Those eyes were too kind; they pierced right into your heart, and made you feel horrible for who you really were. It was so hard to face up to kindness when you felt like you'd betrayed the one you loved.

"Winry," Ed placed his hand under her chin and made her look into his eyes, "What's the matter? You can tell me."

"Uh..." she began, "It's just that...It's just that...I-I miss you, Ed, and I just...I just don't want to leave you alone again."

"Leave me alone? What are you talking about?" said Ed. "I'm not lonely. All the signs, plus all the rest of the constellations are up there in the sky with me. I'm not lonesome. I do miss you though."

Winry sighed and half-nodded. "I don't want to be separated from you again. I...I really love you, Ed. But...I suppose that there's nothing that can be done about that now."

Ed closed his eyes and sighed, and then opened his eyes again and looked into hers. "Well, there is one thing," he said, "But it would require a lot of sacrifice on your part. I'm not sure I can ask that much of you."

"What is it?" asked Winry.

"Well," Ed began, "If you want to be with me THAT badly, if you love me THAT much, you could give up everything you have here, give up your entire life, and come and live with me in the sky."

"I can do that?" asked Winry. Ed nodded. Winry smiled and started getting excited. Ed put up his hand to get her to stop.

"But there is something that you should know. You would not only be giving up your life for this incarnation here on earth, you would be giving up your separate identity for all your future incarnations. You would basically become a part of me...forever. You would never be able to undo that."

"But I would be with you, wouldn't I? Forever?"

"Yes," he nodded, "Forever."

A tear rolled down Winry's cheek. She wanted to immediately just say, "Yes!". She didn't care what she had to sacrifice, but she held back for a second. She knew that she shouldn't just jump into something that was as "forever" as this was. This wasn't just the "forever" of a lifetime, this was the "forever" of an eternity.

She turned to look at both Pinako and Al. Al smiled. "It's your choice, Winry. I always thought that you two should be together."

Pinako just smoked her pipe for a couple puffs, and then said, "I think it's a perfectly good match. We'd miss you though."

She looked back at Ed. "You'd be able to come and visit them in spirit form whenever I came," said Ed, "The only thing is that once your physical body is moved up to the stars, it can never return."

"I understand that," said Winry, "But I don't care. I just want to be with you, Ed." She threw her arms around him as best she could, though he was still non-material, and sobbed. He had a slightly surprised expression on his face, but then calmed down, and wrapped his arms around her.

"So you really want to do this?" he asked. She nodded.

"I love you so much, Ed, I want to be with you...forever."

"Would you like to stay here a while longer to say goodbye to everyone?"

Winry let go of Ed for a second and said, "I can say goodbye right here and now." She turned and threw her arms around both Al and her grandmother, saying goodbye and shedding lots of tears, full of the mixed emotions of sorrow and excitement. She was sad that she was going to be leaving them, but excited that she was going to be with Ed. Yes, transitions are never easy, but they're what make us who we are.

Finally, she stood back up, and stood next to Ed. "I'm ready now, Ed."

"Are you sure you want to do this right now?" he said.

"I'm positive," she said.

"Just remember, once it's done, it can never be undone...ever."

"I know," she said, "But this is what I want. I want to be with you."

Ed smiled. "Okay, then." He grasped her hands and held them tightly in his. He turned to face Al and Pinako. "I guess this is goodbye," he said. "We will visit you soon, in spirit."

Al was crying and waving goodbye. Pinako was busy smoking her pipe, so no one could tell for sure what her emotions were, but Winry was sure that she actually saw a tear rolling down her face.

Ed turned back to face Winry, smiled, and then closed his eyes to concentrate. A wind sprung up out of nowhere and swirled around the both of them. It got stronger and stronger, and started to grow slightly opaque. It soon had enshrouded the both of them, and Al and Pinako could no longer see them. When it cleared, the two were gone. Ed and Winry had gone up to the stars. There was no turning back now. Al and Pinako hoped they would enjoy their new life together. Forever.

A year passed. Two. Three. Yet they never heard from Ed and Winry. Strange. They had said that they were going to come and visit soon, but they hadn't. They were just gone. No trace.

Al thought about them daily. He wondered how they were doing. He would look up at the constellation of Scorpio whenever he got the chance to at night during the summer months. He knew that his sign of Cancer was able to interact with his brother, yet he couldn't consciously recollect any of that. He was still two separate identities, unlike his brother, who was now only one.

Al sighed. He couldn't let these memories drag him down. He was just going to have to pick himself back up and continue on. He had to work doubly hard to control the elements since they had lost two of their number a few years previous, and they had to work extra hard to maintain the balance of nature.

He picked himself up and headed towards the circle. Him and three other members of the zodiac, one from each element, were assembling today. True, they werea force to be reckoned with when they did that, but it also helped to balance out the forces of nature and keep it in check. Besides, he was going to get to see three of his friends today: his teacher Izumi, Sagittarius, and his own father.

As he was walking through the forest, he felt a hand on his back. He spun around in fright. Who could that be? He gasped when he saw who it was.

"Brother! Winry! You finally came back!"

Ed chuckled. "Well, yeah, we told you we'd come back soon."

"You call three years soon?" asked Al.

Ed scratched his head. "Three years? Are you serious? Have we been gone that long?"

Winry's jaw dropped. "I could've sworn we were gone no longer than a few weeks at most. How could we have possibly been gone for three years?" She looked at Ed for an explanation. Ed just shrugged and smiled.

"Well, time isn't quite the same up there as it is down here, I guess." Ed turned back to Al. "I'm so sorry that we took so long. I had no idea."

Al shrugged and said, "It's okay. After all, like you said, you had no idea."

"So how have things been for you lately...these past three years?" asked Ed.

"Oh, so-so," said Al. "The country's been slowly improving. Roy has finally gotten to the rank of General. Considering all the bizarre things that have been happening since his term of service started, he's probably going to become Fuhrer in no time."

Ed chuckled and said, "Yeah, I bet he will. As much as this may shock you to hear it coming from me, I think he'll make a great king."

Al's jaw had to drop on that one. He never expected Ed to actually COMPLIMENT Roy! Ed chuckled. "Hey, don't be so surprised. I'm Ed AND Scorpio, remember?"

"R-Right," said Al, brushing his hair out of his eyes. His eyes then strayed over towards Winry, whom he noticed was carrying something in her arms. "What are you carrying there, Winry?"

Ed and Winry both looked at each other and smiled a very big smile, then looked back at Al. "This is what we came back to show you," said Ed.

"Really? What is it?" asked Al.

Winry handed the bundle to Al. Al took it and carefully cradled it in his arms. He unwrapped the blanket, and gasped. "This is our daughter," said Winry.

"You-You mean, I'm an uncle?" asked Al.

Ed chuckled. "Yes, you are."

"What's her name?" asked Al.

"Andromeda," said Winry.

"Andromeda?" asked Al, "You mean she's one of the...the..."

"...the constellations? Yes," said Winry, "What else would she be?"

Al chuckled nervously and said, "Well, I guess that I'm just still getting used to this whole 'constellation' 'star-people' bit."

"Well, it's understandable," said Winry, "You do have two separate identities."

Al half-chuckled. "Yeah, I've got two separate identities still. What's it like to not have two separate identites, Brother?"

Ed gazed off into the distance for a moment, and then looked back down at Al. "Well, it's a little easier in some respects, but I wouldn't be able to live like that. When I manifest into a physical form, I'm just too vulnerable as a water sign, and I have to hide behind another identity. I'm still trying to figure out how the heck Pisces is able to do it without hiding behind another identity."

"Yeah, why does she do that, anyway?" asked Winry, turning to Ed.

"Well," said Ed, "Not hiding behind a separate identity increases her psychic ability, and I think that she's very proud of that."

Winry chuckled and then looked down at the baby, who was started to kick around a bit. "Ed, the baby is getting a little bit restless. I think we'd better head home."

"You're right, Win." He put his hand on Al's shoulder. "Go and tell everyone hello for us. I'm sorry that we have to go so soon, but we will be back soon to visit, okay? And this time, I really mean 'soon', I promise. No more three year waits."

Al chuckled. "Okay, Brother, I'll hold you to that."

With that, that mysterious wind that came out of nowhere came again and swallowed the two of them up. Al was left standing there, staring at empty space for several moments.

When he finally got his bearings again, he started walking towards the circle, since he still had his job to do of keeping the elements in check. He was sorry that his brother couldn't be with him longer, but Ed had already moved on. It was too much to ask that he still be around after he had died. He was kind of jealous of Winry in that regard, since she got to be with him all the time. He was happy for her though, and happy for his new neice. That was going to be quite an interesting story to tell to the others.

With that, he quickened his pace. He was going to get to the circle soon and tell everybody what had just occured. His brother might not be alive in body anymore, but he was very much alive in spirit. He would make sure that everyone knew that.

Besides, if he were to prepare everyone for Ed's soon return, maybe they'd all get a chance to see him too. Maybe they would all get a chance to meet Ed, Winry, and Andromeda. Maybe. Just maybe.

**_Did you like it? I hope so. Yes, I know, the ending was somewhat bittersweet. I don't always write fairytale endings, in case you haven't figured that out yet. I hope that you liked it anyway. Please leave me a review, and tell me your thoughts! Thanks so much for following along with me. Go and check out some of my other stories now, since you're sure to like some of the others if you enjoyed this one._**


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